Garden Club: Radishes

At the beginning of each Garden Club, after students play on the playground or play a game together to get warmed up, everyone has a garden-based snack together (usually fruit or vegetables). Since the students didn’t get to try their curried sweet potato soup from last Garden Club, we started off this session trying our delicious soup; it got rave reviews! Some students were nervous at first, as they had never tried anything “curry” or with sweet potato chunks floating in it (or anything with coconut milk!), but our kiddos were brave and after trying, nearly everyone said they enjoyed it.

Students try different varieties of radishes for a green teen-led taste test.

After our curried sweet potato soup “snack,” the teens led a taste test with radishes. They prepared two types of radishes: Easter egg radishes (milder) from the store and daikon radishes from the garden (a spicier variety). They prepared halved radishes with smears of butter and salt; students tried each type, voting on which ones they liked and didn’t. A teen led this activity, and struggled with getting the group’s attention or getting them excited about trying new things. After Garden Club, during our reflection time, we discussed the pros and cons of setting up an activity like this, one that felt a little like “school,” where there was an instructor giving directions, and a chart where students could “vote” on which ones they liked or didn’t like. This also brought up more questions about how to be a good, captivating public speaker and how to get kids engaged in general.

After the taste-tests, students planted radishes in the garden, reviewing plant needs together while they did it; while Garden Club leaders helped guide students to the appropriate spacing, students were reminded that plants need plenty of space to grow so as to not compete with resources. We also watered the newly sown seeds. After planting, students planted some radish seeds, a relatively quickly growing crop, in a pot they decorated to take home.

The following Garden Club, students helped again in the high tunnel, watering their newly sown radish seeds and other more established plants; students also wrote in their garden journal about that they felt grateful for as Thanksgiving approached.

The teens put together a “boat float” contest where students used flower pots and supplies like tape, markers, cardboard, etc. to make the flower pot & plant float on water, sure that the competitive streak in students would kick in and they would be engaged, but it was a bust. None of the students were interested. We chalked it up to a great learning experience for the team leaders, noting again that any activity they felt they “had to do” or was “boring like school” would be a dud. Regardless, students had fun helping water plants, harvesting dark leafy greens to take home, and starting “mushroom kits” once leaders saw they weren’t interested in boat-floating. Sometimes you have to be flexible!