If you would have asked Marianne Fowler, 10, what an eggplant was last spring, she would have told you, "I didn't even know there was such thing as an eggplant."
But after seeing the one her friend grew this fall in the community garden at the Old Six Mile Museum, she gives quite a different answer: "It's big and purple, and you can put breading on it and fry it."
That's because Fowler and her fifth-grade classmates at Worthen Elementary School have been using the community garden as an outdoor classroom. As fourth-graders they each planted a vegetable in the garden. This fall, they revisited the garden on Maryville Road to see what their plant grew into and to pick the garden clean of any remaining squash, banana peppers, cantaloupe and a bounty of other produce before cooler weather settles in.
"You would have thought we were giving out video games," said Worthen's principal Deb Kibort of the students' excitement when they finally witnessed the fruits of their labor. "They couldn't believe you could grow something in the ground and use it in your kitchen."
During their trip to the garden, the fifth-graders also observed a demonstration of how to make apple butter and how to plan trees. Two apple trees and one peach tree were recently donated to the garden to start an orchard.
Worthen's relationship with garden began last year when Jim Engelke, president of the Old Six Mile Historical Society, approached Kibort about an idea he had to teach children about farming and eating healthy.
"The issue is kids today think everything comes from the freezer at the supermarket," Engelke said. "They are not familiar with the nutrition that comes from fresh vegetables. If we can start when they're young and show them what it takes to grow, hopefully they'll become interested and want to grow in their own backyard."
That philosophy rubbed off on Worthen students. Some even say they like eating their vegetables.
"In class I've learned about nutrients and stuff and why its good for you, so I decided to eat healthy," said Jacob Klee, another fifth-grader at Worthen. He's also taking away some valuable life lessons from the garden.
"The experience was really exciting and caring," Klee said. "It was exciting because we almost spent the whole day at the garden and got out of class," he admitted.
As for the caring part, over the summer, produce from the garden was donated weekly to the Women, Infants and Children program at the Coordinated Youth and Human Services center in Granite City. WIC supports low-income women and children at risk for malnutrition.
While the garden provides hands-on applications for science lessons, the charitable function of the garden has generated insightful discussion inside the classroom about solving the hunger puzzle and learning to be self-sufficient, Kibort said.
"I don't think it's fair that some people don't have as much money as other people," said Fowler, the fifth-grader. "I think it's nice that we're doing this to help those families."
Contact reporter Sarah Baraba at 618-344-0264, ext. 133.
