A 5th grade class and all the 4th grade classes joined us in the TFES Food Garden to help us correct our soil and prepare our beds for planting! With the help of Penn State University’s Agriculture Department, we had our soil tested. We used the reports, as we applied math and soil science to practical use! Read about the specific lessons learned. As much as the kids enjoyed learning outdoors and getting dirty, they LOVED the worms. Worms are our friendly garden bugs, who aerate the soil, decompose organic materials and pooh nutrients!
We learned about practical mathematics and science procedures to use square footage and complex mathematical equations to configure the proper amount of each fertilizer. We used our report from PSU to see what each garden bed is deficient in and which they had an optimum of.
The rotting plants left over is what makes our food healthy that we grow in soil. We need the nutrients in the soil to feed our plants, to feed us the most healthiest plants possible! Problem is that most of our farms want to produce as much food as possible, so one something is done growing, they harvest, remove and plant something else (I’m guilty of this too bc I want to plant the next season’s crop!) Well, how do we fix this? WE ADD IN ORGANIC MATERIALS and Fertilize as needed.
We learned how soil needs nutrients, like we take vitamins when our diet may not have all we need. These nutrients (aka fertilizers are raw elements like nitrogen, phosphate, magnesium, sulfur, and gypsum), are rare to handle in another pragmatic setting. We discussed how different plants have preferences of fertilizer based on their PH scale, but most of our veggies/vine-fruits prefer similar soils with a balance of the nutrients. We learned about and added organic matter: Decaying plant (humus), like compost aka black gold, cow manure and soil. Fertilizing and then adding a top layer of free mulch (straw and fallen leaves, which will decompose to add in even more nutrients to our soil).
Photos Below: 5th Grade Ms Horn’s Class
Photos Below: All 4th Grade Classes
TFES GARDEN CLUB 