Today we explored the 5 Senses in the Garden with Kihei Elementary School kindergarteners and turned nitrogen-fixing and phosphorous-rich cover crops into the soil for a final round with all grades before planting new fruits and vegetables for the year.
To start the adventures, Chef Kristin Etheredge gave each student gardener a taste of fresh apple bananas from her home and juicy strawberry papayas, then collected compost scraps to feed the soil. As we sampled the harvest, students talked with Kathy and Kris about similarities between soil health and human health, plant parts, decomposers in the compost, then discovered a bright red ladybug on a tour with Gadener Kirk, learned about beneficial insects and brainstormed describing words to write in their journals.
Mahalo to all for sharing mana’o and helping to inspire a new generation of chefs, teachers, scientists, farmers and urban gardeners on these islands!
