DFW Truck Farm visits the Earth Club at Northside Elementary in Waxahachie
The recent drop in the temperature did not keep the DFW Truck Farm from roaring down the county roads and making its first Fall school visit of the season. The 1985 Dodge pick-up truck pulled into Northside Elementary Tuesday, November 8 to visit with the 2nd – 5th grade Earth Club Members.
As Marilyn Simmons, owner and operator of the DFW Truck Farm, sat on the tailgate the children circled around to listen to the story of how the DFW Truck Farm began.
After the brief story Marilyn Simmons and daughter Donelle Simmons, split the Earth Club Members into groups to have a lesson on planting for a winter crop. Marilyn planned the lesson to allow the children to get their hands dirty!
The groups kneeled around garden containers and learned how to plant lettuce and cabbage by transplanting and planting radishes by seed. The lesson included talking about what types of meals that could be made out of all three vegetables. The children were very excited to help plant and were enthusiastic about the conversation. One young girl spoke up and said told the group that in her family they use radishes in a special Spanish dish while others chimed in on how much they loved eating salads.
After the students planted the winter containers they each had a turn to look and sample off of the DFW Truck Farm. They stood on the stepladder and tried to identify the vegetables growing and left with a minty treat “a spearmint leaf” out of the DFW Truck Farm. Even though all the students learned about gardening and why it’s important to change out the vegetables each growing season, they did not leave empty handed. Marilyn Simmons gathered everyone in a circle and cut lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, radishes, and banana peppers off of the DFW Truck Farm and handed out a small sample to each of the Earth Club members.
The goals of the DFW Truck Farm are to educate, encourage, and emphasize to grow your own food and understand where your food comes from, the visit to Northside Elementary was a success with plans to return in the Spring. If you want to check out what The Huffington Post called “the coolest urban agriculture project around” and have the DFW Truck Farm visit your classroom or event, contact Donelle Simmons at 214-842-2100.
DFW Truck Farm is owned and operated by Garden Inspirations, visit www.gardeninspirations-tx.com for more information.