4-H Extension Corner

FROM FARM TO TABLE

MOBILE COUNTY 4-H’ERS EXPERIENCED THE BENEFITS OF RAISED BED GARDENING.

BY CAROLYN DRINKARD

For the past three years, Mobile County 4-H agent Adeline Quintana has sponsored a unique “Baking and Cooking Club” for a group of 20 home-schoolers, ranging in age from 9-13. This year, Adeline incorporated the farm-to-table concept, which means that the students would grow their own food and then cook and eat it. They would learn exactly where their food came from before they ate it, because they had grown and harvested the food themselves.

Adeline applied for and received a RC&D grant to redo the raised beds that were behind the 4-H building. She first scheduled a workday to clean out the beds. Several 4-H members attended, along with two Master Gardener Interns. Since the weeds had grown over 12 feet tall, everyone had to work hard to pull and haul them to the dumpster.

“It was lots of work,” Adeline laughed. “Kids were sweating while taking weeds to the dumpsters. They took four truckloads to the dumpster, so you can see there was a lot to be cleaned up.”

With the help of the Chickasaw FFA, the students removed debris from the old beds and put in new ones. The students pulled out the rebar and wood from the old beds and then the FFA members cut wood and built new beds.

At the February Baking and Cooking Club meeting, the students worked out in the garden adding soil to the raised beds, along with drip irrigation. Some of the boys in the club had experience helping their fathers at home, so they were excited and helpful when putting in the new irrigation.

“I really enjoyed cutting the roots,” said Devin Graham. “It was very stress relieving. Working as a team made the job go faster.”

This group of 4-H members and Master Gardener Interns pulled weeds and prepared the garden plots to plant. (Left back) Nathan Wallace, Anna Claire Hillburn,Theresa Davidson, Marion Platt. (Front) Carlos Quintana, Liliana Quintana and Roberto Quintana.

Matthew Yeldon, a member of the Chickasaw High School FFA program, cut wood for raised beds. His teacher, Virginia Allen (r), looks on. Even the bus driver (back) helped.

Donovan McDaniel, Samuel Williams and Maddison Mueller, from Chickasaw High School, Future Farmers of America, helped to make the beds.

After the irrigation was installed, 4-H’ers planted red romaine lettuce, spinach and carrots. At the March meeting, they added even more vegetables and herbs.

“My favorite part was making sure the soil was evened out,” stated Alexis Graham. “It was so satisfying. I learned that if the soil was uneven, the plants wouldn’t get the water they needed. Teamwork means more people helping and that makes the job easier.”

Members of the 4-H Baking and Cooking Club grew and harvested the greens and then made and ate a fresh salad. They also discussed the benefits of growing your own food and knowing exactly where your food came from.

The Baking and Cooking Club runs from November to April, so the plants they used had to be ones which could flourish in that season. In the summer months, other 4-H’ers use the beds if they do not have a space to plant their own potatoes at home.

As the year progressed, the 4-H’ers worked in the garden or prepared other recipes at their meetings. “The kids were so excited,” Adeline stated. “They worked great as a team. All of them were busy, and they helped each other.”

After the students harvested their greens, they prepared fresh salads. Then they discussed the advantages of growing their own food. All agreed that they were much more comfortable knowing where this food had come from, how it had been grown and who had harvested and prepared it.

Heidi and Bridget Swaffield carefully measure flour for their cake recipe. Teamwork is one of the many skills that students learn in this cooking class.

Liam Head (l) and Emma Cronick (r) worked together on their recipe. They carefully measured ingredients for a yellow cake, which they enjoyed later.

Home-schooled 4-H students enjoyed their cooking classes. They divided into teams and learned to make a yellow cake at this session.