Our House e-newsletter May 2011 | Page 5

For the last several years, the kids at Our House have grown fruits and vegetables in their own edible garden. Ben Goodwin, Our House’s Grants Manager and an organic farmer, spends time each week educating the Our Club kids in the garden. Our Club spent last week learning where our food comes from. We started by visiting Damien at Dunbar Garden. We learned that bees are the reason plants continue to grow all over a garden. When bees eat from the flowers, they spread seeds. We got close to the bees, and they did not bite. We learned that bees only bite when their home is threatened. They buzzed all around us. We also learned about the role of chickens on a farm. They eat and fertilize the farm so plants can grow large. We learned that real eggs are all colors, even green, and that eggs from a farm are not white. When we returned to our own garden, we picked what we had been growing. This week we picked lettuce, cleaned it, and made salads. It tasted delicious with all those vegetables. Some of us liked the salad even more than chips! We love working in our garden every Wednesday. We have been growing so much we needed to add a whole patch. We covered Ms. Katy in dirt, and she was black from head to toe. It was really fun. Heifer also taught us about gardens and communities during Garden Week. They came to Our Club to talk about the role that animals have in impoverished countries. Now we are hoping that Our Club’s garden can get some chickens. Maybe we can have a whole farm! 5