By Wendy McDonnell

It’s harvest time!  Corn, carrots, beets and beans are being plucked and pulled in background and community gardens everywhere. It is a beautiful time to celebrate the bounty created from these tiny seeds. What better way to rejoice then to pull some vegetables, and of course turn them into an Eco-Lesson.

I was asked to create a lesson that would entertain ten preschool children for forty-five minutes in a garden setting.   I believe that facilitating a child’s spirit comes from first embracing the excitement naturally found within them.  To do this, an educator needs to truly feel excitement for the truth that is being taught.  So I started to assess what excited me about a harvest and what Eco-Lesson could be taught from it.

Through my experience, children and adults alike are absolutely amazed when a vegetable is pulled from the ground.  I knew I needed to harness that wonder as the climax of my lesson.  So creating a lesson that started with the pulling of a carrot would eliminate my opportunity to build knowledge and curiosity about my objective.  Using the BC Integrated Resource Package for Science and Health in Kindergarten, my objectives were: Identifying, describing, and observing local plants while learning of their health benefits. (www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp)

From a child’s experiences, a carrot is often the first example of the colour orange.  “Orange is a carrot” is the first line of a popular pre-reading exercise.  In order to access a preschool child’s previous knowledge of carrots, I created an introduction that both excited the children but also kept them active and engaged.  It involved trying to identify the mystery vegetable.  Using enthusiasm and actions to engage the students, I did a variety of active clues with the children such as:  An Orange Search; C Body Letters; Nose wiggling; as well as using senses to examine a carrot top.  The children excitedly identified the vegetable.

Once the mystery was solved, I maintained a theme in order to achieve maximum absorption of the objectives.  The mystery detectives now needed to find the missing carrots in the garden.  Using their carrot top as a clue, they actively searched the garden for the carrots.  As we moved along, we discussed the differences in the leaves; the smells, the colours and the children began to become aware of the variety of growth that surrounded them.  Until we located the carrot top and then realized that the carrots were hiding under the ground!  What an incredible mystery solved!

As we pulled the carrots, we discussed the beta-carotene in carrots and their magical powers to make you better when you are sick, as well as to help you see in the dark like an owl.  In order to assess their understanding, I posed a question that encouraged the children to connect their self to the concept.  So for the preschool children I asked them, “How can they use these magical powers for themselves?  Bunnies know this and so do horses.  Do they know?”

After returning to the gathering space as owls hooting, the kids then experienced the washing and tasting of the carrots.  The carrots were pulled from an organic garden, meaning no pesticides were used; therefore it was not necessary to peel the carrots before eating thus maintaining their health value.  But what were we to do with the tops?

Nature provides all; one just has to open the box of what is known and look beyond.  Considering we also had beets on hand, after the children ate their carrot snack they did some beet and carrot stamping.   On recycled paper, the children each had half a beet and the sliced top part, including an orange chunk, of a carrot.  Using the beet as their stamp pad they created pictures with beautiful red ink.  No plastic, no toxic dyes, no waste.

When completed they came over and placed them both into a pot to help create “Purple Velvet – Carrot and Beet Soup”.   There is nothing like pulling your carrot, stamping your carrot and of course eating it too!

Purple Velvet – Carrot Beet Soup (http://www.foodtv.ca)

Ingredients:

• 1 x large beets with greens, scrubbed and chopped, greens reserved and chopped
• 2 x medium carrots (unpeeled), chopped
• 2 x cooking onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• 2 pieces dried star anise
• 1 tsp ground fennel seed
• 2 tbsp organic coconut oil
• Unrefined sea salt to taste
• Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
• Enough filtered water to cover

Directions:

1. Heat a 10L pot on the stove top on medium-high heat. Once hot add coconut oil and melt it so that it covers the bottom of the pot. Add onions and celery, stirring frequently.
2. When vegetables have begun to brown (about 5 minutes) add garlic, carrot (unpeeled), beet, beet greens, unrefined sea salt and pepper. Add enough water so that the vegetables are just covered. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and skim off any foam that accumulates on the surface.
3. Once boiled, turn the pot down to a simmer (low heat). Add star anise and ground fennel. Allow to simmer for forty minutes or so, stirring and checking the doneness of the beet and carrot every so often. When beets are soft enough to be easily cut with a spoon remove pot from heat. Remove star anise pieces.
4. Using a hand-blender blend the soup until no chunks remain. The consistency can be adjusted by adding more water if necessary. Add more unrefined sea salt if needed. Enjoy

~Created for The Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Farm’s: “Disney Day” http://www.richmondfruittree.com/

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