How does your garden grow?

As they approached the garden, the enthusiasm resonated among the

students. They exclaimed “Oh my gosh,” “Wow” and “Look at the little

bulbs that we planted.”

Top of the World students in Terry Hustwick’s third-grade class

have been learning what it takes to tend to a garden. Between math a

science lessons they learn to use shovels and rakes and their pride

in their work is apparent.

Each class has the opportunity to grow their own garden and

Hustwick’s class was working on two.

“The garden area has been here for over 15 years,” Hustwick said.

“I’ve been here for over 35 years. Not everyone has a garden. It

takes time, and the students appreciate the time it takes to come to

fruition.”

Weeding and picking sweet beans, the gardeners diligently

practiced using their green thumbs.

One boy said, “Look at these giant beans,” as he pulled back the

pod and ate some. Soon many of his classmates were enjoying the

fruits of their labors.

The kids and teacher said that they’ll bring in radishes, lettuce,

sweet peas and other vegetables to enjoy a salad in class or to share

with their families at home.

“If there’s bad leaves on the lettuce, you don’t want to use them

for eating,” Michael Kimball, 9, said. “You want to take off those

with bugs or if they’re brown.”

J.J. Ferguson, 8, held her hand-crafted measuring tape like the

other kids had constructed, discerning the length and width of the

plot so they could buy fencing to keep the gophers out.

“We’ve been learning how to take care of plants, planting crops

and watering our garden,” Nina Thorton, 8, said.

Hustwick’s class was working on a measurement unit and asked the

class what it’s called when you measure something all the way around.

The students quickly chimed in the answer, the perimeter.

It wasn’t all math and science in the garden. Imagination came

into play, as well.

Two boys joked around near the radishes. One hid his hand

pretending that it had been eaten by the radish leaves, soon the

other was following in the drama. An observer said to the boy’s that

there is no such thing as man-eating radishes, but the boys weren’t

dissuaded in their play.

Lily Rogers, 8, was taking a more artistic approach to gardening.

She set a pea pod on her paper and sketched its likeness, making sure

to include minute details.

“I like drawing things,” Lily said. “I want to be an artist when I

get older. I like drawing things in the garden, it’s fun.”

As she kept drawing, the other kids went around the garden

practicing their measuring skills, examining the length and width of

the scarecrow, shovels, leaves and the wheelbarrow, enjoying

calculating numbers for just about everything in sight -- even each

other.

One boy yelled out that he had measured a lizard and that it

measured 2 centimeters.

Disposing of the weeds and bringing back their riches, the kids

headed back to the classroom with smiles on their faces.