On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA April - May 2017 | Page 6

FOOD PAT R I C K R YA N Dirt Made Your Lunch! Alaska Students Learn to Grow Their Food All this started at the request of Susan Williams, the coordinator of the program. She had heard about ABG’s Junior Master Gardener Summer Camp, which I have been teaching since 2004, and she wanted something similar in the schools. We met and brainstormed about possible scenarios for teaching gardening to kids—with an emphasis on health and nutri- tion—and the goal of developing gardens at the eight schools we would be serving. I modeled the lights and shelving units after expensive commercial systems, and have used them for many years in my greenhouse to start seeds. Rolling steel wire shelves are readily available at any big box store. Lights, also obtainable commercially, are run on a timer. Students participating in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers learn that from tiny seeds, all kinds of plants grow. Getting kids to under- stand and appreciate the world of plants through gardening activities is a great way to get them hooked on healthy, lifelong actions. By guid- ing youth through gardening, teachers, parents and childcare providers can spark a child’s imagination by connecting them with the natural world. The Alaska Botanical Garden in partnership with the Anchorage School District’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers program has developed a system for growing plants in the schools. The Anchorage School District, a recipient of three community learning center grants from the U.S. Department of Education, provides after-school enrichment programs for K-8 students in core academics, homework help, tutoring, drug and abuse prevention, technology training, recreation and the arts at 11 public school facilities. ABG serves eight of these schools. 6 Students at Nunaka Valley Elementary School grow lettuces and other greens. M O R E L EA RNING O PPO RTUN ITIES The purpose of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is to expand learning opportunities for children and their families outside regular school hours. These programs offer strong, after-school activities that involve the schools and community together to help kids develop into healthy adults. S PECIA LIZ ED LIGHTING With the help of a local lighting supplier, two shelving units were designed for a total of five lights: three in one unit and two on the other shelf. The fixture itself is a basic T5 strip shop light with an additional reflector to direct the light downward. The two lamps are the 3500 Kelvin in the red end of the spectrum and the 6500 Kelvin lamp is in the blue end. In Anchorage, around winter solstice in December, we have about 5½ hours of daylight. By the spring equinox in March, we have, of course, 12 hours of daylight. Plants need extra light to start and maintain them through harvest. The gardening program runs from Septem- ber through December, and restarts in January through May. The growing boxes are 17-liter plastic tubs from Really Useful Containers, found at office supply stores or online. We drill holes in the bottom and use the lid to catch the drips. We have 12 at each school and fill them with about 4 inches of good, organic potting soil. Students are involved in every step as we prepare for seed sowing. For watering, we use one-gallon juice jugs with holes drilled in the lids. They aren’t too heavy and they are well balanced. On-site coordinators are responsible for watering, with