The Malcolm X Elementary School Garden

Today I spent a wonderful morning with Rivka, the gardening teacher at Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley.  I arrived during a break in the February rain, and met her in the 4,000 square foot section of the school's yard about 15 minutes before recess began.

There were several volunteers there already.  One, a general contractor, was creating a rainwater capture device from the roof of the garden shed.  Another was tending to the garden.  And yet another, a yoga teacher named Angela, was there to help with the students.

Rivka told me the history of the garden program; she began it 15 years ago in the raised planters by the school. As she pointed to these planters they looked more like the type of place where landscaping shrubs would typically go.  But that was what she had access to back then, when the whole schoolyard was concrete.   So she started planting with the students there.  When that no longer worked, for a while there was a garden across the street at another facility, or for a time fava beans on the front schoolyard.

A few years later when the schoolyard was being redone to include trees and other equipment, the playground committee allotted a portion of the schoolyard to the garden, and that it is where it now sits.

Malcolm X Elementary's 4,000 square foot garden, located amidst their playground, on Prince St in Berkeley

As Rivka finished up telling me about the garden's genesis the recess bell rang and students started pouring out onto the yard.  Students started to pick their activity, and some wandered into the garden to see what they could do.  "Ms. Rivka, can I shovel?"  "Can I collect snails?"

With every activity, I was surprised at the enthusiasm the children brought.  With great zest, they wanted to dig, to shake the soil loose from the weeds, or to hunt for snails.  When one boy brought five snails back to Rivka she told him that she would show them how to have a snail race.  The boy thought that was quite cool!  A third youngster wandered over and wanted to pick weeds.  Rivka showed him how to do it.  A few other girls came by and spontaneously joined in.

One thing I found impressive was how Rivka ties the garden into whatever topics the students are learning in the classroom, whether it be about cycles, or the digestive system.  For instance, third graders learn about indigenous cultures.  So Rivka does a curriculum about medicinal plants, and talks about what defines a plant as a "weed."

Third grade project on the medicinal properties of locally growing herbs.

Many weeds are actually quite useful and tasty, like miners lettuce and chickweed.  As a matter of fact, these and other greens are so popular here that students make what they call a "Weedo" (as opposed to a "burrito") by taking a big leaf which acts as the tortilla, and then putting inside it other greens, chamomile flower, sour sorrel, and fennel.

Children are taught to see the uniqueness of the vegetables.  Rivka tells students that if they like licorice, they'll like fennel.  And she says that children love sour things, and that the sour sorrel brings them into the garden.

Yes, the students come into the garden during their recess time just to have a handful of freshly picked leafy greens!

One young man is making his "Weedo."  I made one myself - quite delicious!

After the students finish their weeding or snail collecting project, they ask Rivka if they can have a treat. In this case, their treat is a Weedo that they make for themselves.  As the bell sounds the end of recess, the students make their way back to the building enthusiastically munching on their greens.

Sour Sorrel - usually a bit higher than in this picture.  It's very sweet and tangy.  And a student favorite!  

After recess, Rivka led a small third grade group through a lesson in nutrition.  She was very gifted and experienced in engaging the children, and making sure that they were given the chance and guidance to truly engage with the food.  The children took turns cutting carrots, and then together took a turn juicing chunks of carrot, apple and beet in a juice machine.  The results?  They had learned about how "You are what you eat" in a meaningful way, engaged in a healthy class discussion about nutrients, fiber, organic growing,  how to be balanced (which was right in line with Chinese Medicine), and how their body felt when they ate candy versus healthy food.

And, when Rivka asked them how the juice tasted, they all gave a "thumbs up"!

The students made juice in the classroom when it started raining too hard.  You can't see, but on the board were their ideas on how they felt when they ate sugary foods vs. eating carrots and apples.

Students are engaged in the garden and the food making.  Thumbs up!!

Rivka was full of enthusiasm and expertise.  She told me that you don't need all this space to have a successful gardening program.  Wine Barrels can be found for $20.  Free compost is given out monthly for Berkeley residents.  A cutting of Tree Collards, or just a few seeds that are grown in little cups, can be the start of a valuable learning experience for the children.

Wine Barrel Planters

Miners Lettuce

Fennel - a Weedo MUST!

Tree Collards

Greens....

...and more Greens!!

Long gone is the time when Rivka had to figure out what tiny spot would accommodate her garden.  Furthermore, now there is grant money that puts a garden in every Berkeley elementary and middle school.  Rivka's position in the school is more secure, and judging by the way she knows all the children's names and interacts with them and the teachers, I can tell that she is a highly valued member of the school community.

Aside from that, she was incredibly generous and encouraging to me as I was asking her questions about how I could develop workshops with young people that incorporated gardening, cooking and nutrition.

The one point she conveyed to me both in words and actions was that by engaging students in the whole process, from planting, to weeding, to preparing and then finally eating, students are very eager to try all sorts of foods.  They just need to be involved.

And this was what I found so magical.  I have worked in many schools and know how hard some health advocates struggle to get students to put down the coke and chips and sample a fresh vegetable.  And I know that in a lot of schools while there might be a nutrition curriculum of some sort, there is not access to the food itself.

But here Rivka not only made it all work - the kids were asking for a Weedo as a treat for having weeded the garden - but she made it look easy!


How would the health prospects of young people change if more of them had access to a teaching garden like the one at Malcolm X Elementary in Berkeley?   


A big thanks to the inspiring Rivka, and the young scholars at Malcolm X in Berkeley.  May the carrot, apple and beet juice you made today help you have a very happy and healthy Valentine's Day!


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Still curious?  Watch this great video about Rivka's garden! Or check out Rivka's garden blog.