This past February, Anita Kuhns, Grant Beach Neighborhood Association President, was contacted by Ms. England, third-grade teacher at Weaver Elementary.

Per Ms. England, “the third-grade classes at Weaver are participating in a project-based learning (PBL) activity where the driving question is “How can we help hungry people in our community?”

Through answering this question, the students will learn about the life cycle and needs of plants while trying their hand at growing them. Not only will they be learning about the science of plants, but they will be using some of the skills needed for a community garden by solving math problems, making observations, writing about the experience, and donating what they grow to Hovey House. The final piece of the project will be to create a presentation using what they have learned over the course of the project to answer the driving question.

The students had read articles in the newspaper about Springfield Community Gardens and realized that one of the gardens was just across the street and would be perfect for their project.

The teacher asked if Grant Beach Neighborhood Association would host a walking field trip to Hovey House. Because Hovey House isn’t big enough for 50 students, Anita volunteered to visit  Weaver and provide a short lecture on what GBNA is and what we do, and then host the students for a quick tour of Hovey House and the garden.

On Feb. 6 (a very nice day for the season), the classes of Ms. England and Mrs. Desa came over to Hovey House. The students were very interested in the garden and had lots of questions. They wanted to know why it wasn’t completely plowed up since the growing season was long over.

Anita explained that asparagus is planted once and keeps growing year after year. We also have Jerusalem artichokes, which stay in the ground until you are ready to use them and regular artichokes, which are grown as perennials in our area.

The students decided to plant carrots as part of their project and bring the harvest over to Hovey House to include in our weekly produce distribution. They will be using raised beds since it is better soil for growing straight carrots. The rocky soil of the Ozarks can produce some gnarly carrots!)

We can’t wait to receive their harvest!

Special thanks to David Greer of Community Partnership of the Ozarks for connecting the classes with GBNA.