Mr. Ford's Grade Four Class

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Ford's fourth grade class from Chris Hadfield Public School to the Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming. The students arrived to the garden and began with a tour of the grounds which was lead by Martha. They made their way throughout the garden and got to see the different plants, greenhouses and fields. They also saw the pond, the bee hive and the compost piles.

After the tour, the students made their way to the greenhouse where they each planted a flower and a seed that they got to take home.

Next, the class split up into two groups. The first group got to use pitch forks to break up fresh soil from below what used to be a compost pile. The soil was dark and beautiful and had lots of worms and bugs in it which we learned is very beneficial to the plants. The next group helped separate flowers from grass so that the grass plants would not take over the flowers. They then composted the grass and got to plant new sunflower seeds!

After the garden visit was complete, the students made their way to the food lab where they got to use some of the fresh ingredients they picked in the garden. The students began by making honey granola. They melted brown sugar, honey, vanilla and soy butter together and then mixed in oats, cranberries, and other delicious goodies and let them set in the fridge. Once the granola was finished, each student created their own personal salad dressing that they got to take home with them! There were lots of fresh herbs from the garden for the students to choose from and each salad dressing was unique. Next, the class cut up veggies and then they all sat together to enjoy their granola and veggies paired with honey vinaigrette.

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr. Ford's class today. All of the students and volunteers had a great time and learned about where their food comes from. Thank you to Mr. Ford and Professor McAdams and of course Martha Gay for making such a great day possible!