GRUBS Camp Day 5 - Bringing It All Together

The final day of the camp started at the Fernwood Community Centre (FCC) again, with the kids playing a ‘Plant Needs Game’ in the field out back. The game consisted of the kids needing to get the four main things (soil, water, air, sun) plants need to grow. They had a lot of fun running around the field to various stations collecting the resources. Kids definitely love a game that involves collecting and running, and if they can learn at the same time, all the better!

We then headed over to the Haultain Commons (more info here) to see what Rainy and Margo have been up to. They told the kids all about the Commons; how it came to be and how the food grown on the boulevard is for anyone to enjoy. They also made more compost tea with the kids, and told them about the importance of using rainwater or tempered tap water (as opposed to direct tap water which is chlorinated) to make compost tea, as well as to water the garden.

GRUBS Camp Day 4 - Growing Your Own Food

Day four started with a story, “Jesse’s Jungle of Food”. This story introduces not only growing your own food, but more importantly the idea of diversity in a garden, and also companion planting. After the story we played a companion planting game, where the kids were each a plant from a garden (tomato, zucchini, nasturtium, etc.). Each plant had a brief description of what it likes (i.e. shade, loose soil, etc.) as well as other plants it likes to be around or kept away from. Then the kids had to ‘plant’ a garden. They had a lot of fun and it looked pretty cute with all the kids in various plant poses.

After the game we took the kids to see some backyard chickens at a local house. The kids were able to feed the chickens some chickweed from the Compost Education Centre (CEC), pet the chickens, and even hold a fresh egg. It was still warm from the chicken sitting on it and they seemed to really like that.

GRUBS Camp Day 3 - Where Does Our Food Come From?

The third day was a day filled with field trips! With the theme being “Where Does Our Food Come From?” we decided to take the kids to various farms in the Greater Victoria area as well as Save-On-Foods.

The first stop was Michell Brothers Farm (2451 Island View Road) out on the Saanich Peninsula. Michell Brothers Farm grows and sells a wide variety of fruits and vegetables year round, so it was great for the kids to see food being grown and sold so close to where they live.

The second stop was Dan’s Farm (2030 Bear Hill Road at Oldfield Road, dansfarm.ca), also out on the Saanich Peninsula. Dan’s utilizes natural pest control methods and environmentally friendly farming methods in growing several varieties of berries, fruits, and vegetables, which it also sells on site. Dan’s also has chickens and goats and the kids had a great time petting the goats!

GRUBS Camp Day 2 - Permaculture

The second day began at the Compost Education Centre (CEC) with the kids making journals, and then we headed over to the Springridge Commons (sc.conscious-choices.ca). Springridge Commons is a public permaculture garden (also known as a ‘food forest’) located in Fernwood. It has a wide variety of edible plants (plum trees, Oregon grape, mulberry bushes, miner’s lettuce, fennel, Rosehip, numerous herbs, and a few commonly-tended garden beds growing kale and cabbages). We discussed the various edible things found at Springridge, what they are commonly used for, and then let the kids try any they wanted.

We then headed off on a field trip to Knockan Hill Park (knockanhillpark.ca). Located on the View Royal Saanich border, Knockan Hill Park was a place of import to the Coast Salish People’s, being the focus of a Salish fable, as well as containing two Camas fields. We ate lunch in one of the fields and I told the kids about the aboriginal practice of cultivating, harvesting, preparing, storing, and eating Camas flower bulbs. While it was too early for any blooms to be showing, the field was covered in tender green Camas shoots, enough so that the kids could see just how many Camas bulbs could be found beneath the ground.

GRUBS Camp Day 1 - Compost & Soil

The first day of the camp was certainly very interesting. We ended up with eight kids in total, ranging from 6-9 of age—one 6 year-old, two 7 year-olds, four 8 year-olds, and one 9 year-old—so the age range wasn’t as wide as it could have been if it was 6-11. We started out at the Fernwood Community Centre (FCC), and had the kids make nametags as they came in. Once everyone had arrived we played a garden name-game—everyone had to introduce themselves, give the name of something in a garden that begins with the same letter as their name, and do an action to go along with it, which we all then repeated—The intention of this game was to not only introduce everyone, but get everyone relaxed (kids and counselors alike!) and thinking about what can be found in a garden right of the bat.

After introductions we read the kids the beginning of the story “Sandra’s Sunflower” about Sandra who wanted to plant a sunflower and so she threw it onto a rock, only to have a bird swoop down and snatch it up. We then asked the kids what Sandra should have done differently, and then walked the two blocks from the FCC to the Compost Education Centre (CEC) and had them locate a spot in the many garden beds where they would have planted their sunflower seed. The kids definitely seemed to enjoy getting to run around and find a spot, and then explain to everyone why they chose the spot they did.

Education and Food Security

Another site that lacks any formal policy is environmental education. Approaches to environmental education can vary greatly within BC since policy cannot direct what is being taught, the allocation of resources, teacher training and the development of textbooks and resources. Policy changes have seen little advancement, which could be due to the decentralized responsibility of implementing curriculum across school boards to ministries. Education is a site where learning can lead to political engagement and change. Society is at an environmental tipping point, the ball bearing at the top of a mountain that could be pushed towards crisis or reorganization. If we formally provide students with the knowledge to become aware and concerned citizens with worldviews that encompass nature, their choices may move society away from crisis. Not changing is not an option and the school should be a site where critical engagement with environmental issues is encouraged. Currently students environmental education is at the discretion of their teachers; some students may have teachers who are passionate about the health of oceans while others lose out on opportunities. Food Security provides a great space where students, teachers and communities can create partnerships and learn from one another. But until a formal educational policy is in place, environmental knowledge will continue to be crammed in where it fits and not acknowledged as important. Organizations in Victoria have found a way to enter into the school systems and fill the gap by educating students informally. Lifecycles Growing Schools Program implements long-term term organic food gardens on school grounds. "Gardens are used as an educational tool to engage students, teachers, parents, and school community members in learning how to grow food and as a classroom for these topics." For more information contact growingschools@lifecyclesproject.ca.