Victory Garden

Today isn't much different than it was about 100 years ago.  Nearly 100 years ago, during WWI and WWII, the government requested that America and various other countries create gardens. These gardens were in place to supplement the food rations that were granted. Today, medical masks are being made by people all over the world to supplement the medical supply.

In 1943,  20 million gardens supplied 8 million tons of food.

Victory Garden Curriculum

The Native American tribe, Iroquois found out that when you grow corn, beans, and squash together that they support each other.  This method is called the three sisters.

The corn stalks provide support for the beans and the floppy leaves of the squash mulch the ground.

Science:
Take a ziplock and place a bean or two in the Ziploc with a damp paper towel.

1. Get a notebook. Create a hypothesis or an educated guess of what you think will happen.
2. Why do you think this will happen?
3.  Record what happens daily with the seed. Make an educated guess each day.
4. Use a ruler to record the growth.  make sure you measure the seed before placing it in the Ziploc. Should start sprouting in 4-5 days.

Introduce the parts of the plant

• Roots
• Stem
• Leaves
• Flower
• Fruit

Words to learn:

Hypothesis -What I think will happen

Observations-What I saw and recorded

Conclusions-What I learned

Math:
Make your own garden space. Measure out an area to compost and create soft dirt.  Use graph paper to design your garden, creating a map and include spacing. Predict when things should start sprouting.

Books to read:

A Seed Is Sleepy By Diana Hutts Aston Illustrated by Sylvia Long
The Pocket Daring Book for Girls Things to do By Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz
GrowLab A Complete Guide to Gardening in the Classroom by National Gardening Association
Thirteen Moons On Turtles Back By Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London