Written By: Mariah Marten-Ray, FoodCorps Service Member with One Cool Earth
Cross-posted from FoodCorps.org’s Field Reports
Students had just returned from summer vacation, and I welcomed my Sprout Scouts—the after school garden club—into the garden at Virginia Peterson Elementary School in Paso Robles, CA. It was a hot and arid day. With every foot step dust and dry grass poofed into the air, and I felt like a kindred soul to the wilty leaves of the tomatoes and squashes. Kids began racing into the garden at full speed as if it was a waterpark, their faces mystified by how much change their ½ acre garden had gone through over the summer. Where my eyes saw chaotic overgrowth, their eyes saw a jungle to explore and a school year of gardening projects.