Thinking back to grade school. I remember my first experiences with growing anything, were experiments that involved comparing how seeds sprouted and grew in different types of soils.
Being a kid, it was fun to watch, but hard to wait. I usually lost interest when the report writing began.
Years later, growing up in Haiku, gardening in the Old Haiku School garden was mandatory. We worked in the gardens each day. Maybe because of our age, the lack of relative motivation or a sense that growing our own food was important, we seemed to spend the time goofing around and glad to be outside, instead of the classroom.
I did learn to eat Watercress that our cafeteria manager bought from a farm below the school and made so good that we all seemed to like it. Eating the food that was prepared and doing our time in the cafeteria kitchen had it's advantages. Mrs. Suzuki, who could be pretty strict, liked that I ate my food and worked hard in my shift, this resulted in a stop by the cafeteria on the way home to pick up a supply of cookies or what ever the left-over desert of the day was. It sure made the walk home nicer.
Now 40 years after leaving Haiku School and it's garden ceasing to exist, at least in it's original location, I was proud and honored to be able to help Haiku School build it's new school garden with the help of my grandson Jordan, and later plant it with Jordan and my granddaughter Makayla.
