MHS frosh and little Eckerts plant!

Hello readers of the mighty Montclair Guerrilla Gardening page! This is a combined post, documenting the planting efforts of MHS freshman and little Eckert kids. I am a science teacher and my biology class planted a couple of weeks ago; I am not exaggerating much when I say my students did so with glee and vigor. I know that planting seeds is often seen as more of an elementary school activity but I have yet to meet a teenager that thinks she is too cool to plant a seed and tend to her plant as it glows a beautiful green on a sunny windowsill. It's often a nice respite from the power points and worksheets. (And that's probably an understatement.) We actually covered quite a few standards with the simple activity, e.g., standards covering photosynthesis, cellular respiration, transfer of energy, science as a process--we set up a controlled experiment with one tray covered with a dome, another dome-free. A seed is not so simple and asking a straightforward question such as where does a seed get its energy from as it germinates since it's not photosynthesizing often gives a HS student pause. But, it wasn't all academics. There were lively questions about favorite vegetables and even friendly arguments about whether broccoli raab is delicious or disgusting. And interestingly there were looks of surprise (and maybe a little disgust) when I pulled out some arugula seedlings from the dirt and ate them. I will post a picture that displays the fruit of our labor this week but the picture below is after the first day we planted.

And here are my own children, David and Julianne, planting with joy and love. Deer and groundhogs eat almost all of our veggies every year but we always plant nonetheless.

We, as students/teacher and mom/children, are happy to participate in this effort. And we're grateful to Melina for making it possible. Looking forward to the community swap!