ANAHOLA — Root Rockin’ Vegetables were perfect for the brisk weather in Anahola. Bundled in jackets, the young students and their parents trooped into the Tutu and Me, Anahola program at the Anahola Clubhouse, the aroma of baking bread sending
ANAHOLA — Root Rockin’ Vegetables were perfect for the brisk weather in Anahola.
Bundled in jackets, the young students and their parents trooped into the Tutu and Me, Anahola program at the Anahola Clubhouse, the aroma of baking bread sending an assistant to the kitchen to check on the snack.
Thursday was soup day for the Farm to Preschool program and on the menu was vegetable soup comprised of root vegetables, the month’s theme vegetable, with ingredients contributed by the students’ families.
“Root rockin’ vegetables; carrots, beets and turnips; ‘ala, raddish and kalo; grow up and down; and all around; Root rockin’ vegetables are fine,” is one verse of a song composed by the staff of the Anahola Tutu and Me program to help the interactive family of students learn about root vegetables.
“This worked fine because the school was also learning about nutrition and being able to tie in the month’s vegetables,” said Tiana Kamen, the director for the Farm to Preschool program. “They wrote the song on ‘ukulele with inspiration from the curriculum and it rocks!”
Gina Medrano, the assessment specialist for Tutu and Me, Anahola and Kapa‘a, said there are different activity stations for the students, one being a planting station where students and their family could create a Root View Cup.
“It’s fairly simple,” Kamen said. “A clear plastic cup is filled with medium, the seed is planted, and the portion of the cup where the medium is located is covered with dark paper to keep the sun out.”
Kamen said this is done because roots have a tendency to grow away from the sun.
As the seed sprouts, the paper can be removed and the students can see the roots growing along the clear walls of the cup, an effective aid to helping them learn about parts of the plant.
“Of course, growing carrots in a cup is impractical so once the plant gets bigger, it can be transplanted into the garden,” Kamen said. “This worked well for November’s theme of plant parts and ‘What is a Root?’”
She said the theme for December is “Avocado and Banana.”
Medrano said the Tutu and Me programs in Anahola and Kapa‘a are led by Melissa Anderson, the lead teacher; two assistants, La Contrades and Kehau Fernandez; and herself.
“We can have 50 students at each location and are sold out at both locations,” Medrano said. “One new student is starting just today.”
The Tutu and Me in Anahola and Kapa‘a are in its sixth year, the Anahola location meeting on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and the Kapa‘a location meeting at the Lydgate Park Main Pavilion on Mondays and Wednesdays at the same time.
“We’re going to be looking for a new site for Kapa‘a in January,” Medrano said. “The current location does not offer too much protection during windy and rainy weather.”
Kamen said the Farm to Preschool (Keiki) project is a partnership with Get Fit Kaua‘i and sponsored by the Hawai‘i Healthy Initiative, Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant, and the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau.
She said the Farm to Preschool program has been adopted by all of the preschools on the island and there is strong interest from the other islands in establishing the program there.
Volunteers and interns are welcome, Kamen said. Other people in the community such as chefs, home gardners and farmers who would like to becoming involved can contact her at tiana@farmtokeiki.org for more information.
