KEKAHA — Beyond growing a large variety of fresh, healthy, organic vegetables, the Kekaha Community Garden is growing relationships, a news release states. On Sept. 16, KCG hosted its first school field trip. Students from Waimea High and Canyon Middle
KEKAHA — Beyond growing a large variety of fresh, healthy, organic vegetables, the Kekaha Community Garden is growing relationships, a news release states.
On Sept. 16, KCG hosted its first school field trip. Students from Waimea High and Canyon Middle schools gardened for 2.5 hours and went away with a box full of fresh veggies and a recipe to share with their families.
By the end, all of the students enthusiastically said they would like to come participate again, the release states.
Students first took a tour of the garden, identifying all the vegetables (and a few weeds) currently growing: all kinds of tomatoes and Swiss chard; collards and two different kinds of kale; purple and green cabbages, Chinese cabbage (Won bok) and bok choi; green onions, basil, cilantro, sage, arugula; a variety of lettuces, spinach, celery, and carrots; watermelons, okra, bell and chili peppers, and sweet potatoes; green and purple beans, sugar snap peas.
Next, the students separated into small groups and were assigned to one of our garden members to learn hands-on various garden activities: sow new seeds, fertilize, transplant, weed, remove old plants, and harvest. Each student wrote their name on the plants they sowed so they could come back and check to see how they are growing and transplant them in a few weeks.
At the end of the time together, one of the members demonstrated how to make a healthy snack in five minutes using collards freshly picked from the garden, the release states.
She used scissors to cut the collards, added some Bragg’s Amino acids (healthy substitute for shoyu or soy sauce), olive oil, and Brewer’s yeast (healthy substitute for parmesan cheese).
Students also received a recipe calling for most of the veggies in their boxes they took home, along with some info about the garden to share with their families. With continued support, the garden seeks to be a resource for Westside youth. In fact, Malama Kaua‘i’s School Garden Network has included them in their outreach efforts to connect the garden with local Westside schools, thus marking this school field trip as the first of many to come, the release states.
