This fall, Richardson Early Childhood Center of KCMO offered five 4 x 12 raised garden beds to families.  With a Schoolyard Garden Assistant, these families will learn how to plant, properly water, weed and mulch.  This will also bring opportunity to families to meet one another, creating more of a community feeling at Richardson.

The gardens were planted early Wednesday morning, the sun was out, but comfortably cool.  Parents worked quietly, concentrating on planting seeds, in evenly, spaced, straight lines.  One parent mentioned, “how peaceful it was outside and how gardening made her feel so calm.”  Parents planted two types of mustard greens, turnips, collards, kale, lettuce spinach and swiss chard. Returning a week later they were amazed with how fast the mustard seeds had grown in one week!

The gardens will be opened to families Wednesday mornings from 8:30-9:30 and Fridays afternoons 2:30-3:30. These scheduled “work in the garden” times were created with the intention that after students were dropped off or before they were picked up parents could enjoy a few quiet moments in the garden watering, weeding  or harvesting vegetables for dinner that evening.