Hoover and the Three Sisters

This summer working and teaching in the Hoover YMCA was phenomenal. The day camps that experienced the garden through the Food Matters curriculum got an extra special treat.

   All summer long the seven groups at Hoover YMCA that Jesse and I taught, spent time learning about how the plants they were helping to grow related to what they could choose to put in their bodies. For every lesson they got to experience the garden as a part of the classroom. From the relationships between companion plants to learning that even the eggplants and peppers growing in their garden were fruits the children discovered how a garden worked as a food ecosystem. Introducing how fun the weeding and watering could be that they did and what a significant difference in how fast the plants could grow made the largest impact in how the groups felt connected each week they spent time with us.

   For the last lesson, each group learned who the Native Americans were and how they helped early settlers to grow food, specifically a Three Sisters garden. As the children learned that the beans helped to support the corn, the corn provided a trelis for the squash while the squash used its' prickly vines to protect the three sisters. As I walked through the garden with each of the groups, they investigated each of the three sister plants, touching each and figuring out how they could possibly help each other. To reinforce the sensory learning happening, they each were able to partake in a short skit where they acted as either a corn stalk, squash vine or bean while I made a rhythmic rudiment on a small djembe. Afterward, the kids took turns beating on the drum and we talked about the different foods that the Native Americans introduced to the Europeans and how the two cultures were able to be beneficial to each other. While eating their cold beans, squash and corn salad, I heard some of the kids say that this was their favorite day at camp and their favorite food they had eaten with us. 

  I really enjoyed how every lesson that the groups' received had a garden related component to it. I was especially thankful to have had the chance to talk to groups about the impact that Native American knowledge had on how settlers grew food. It's so important for kids to understand where their food comes from and then have the chance try their hands at growing their own. This summer will be ingrained in their minds as the summer where they learned that food didn't come from the grocery store but that they could actually grow a lot of what they loved to each in their own back yards.

Blog Categories: Food Matters