BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Strawberries, cilantro, and cucumbers are just a few of the over 2,000 plants that were grown at the Edible Schoolyard by students who are also learning the importance of agriculture as they develop that green thumb.
“We are selling transplants that our staff has grown with our students at the Buena Vista Elementary School and we are getting to sell them today to the community for Spring and Summer gardens,” said Executive Director for the Edible Schoolyard Kern County Dylan Wilson.
Dylan Wilson, the Executive Director for the Edible Schoolyard Kern County says the event is a great opportunity for the community to see the garden and learn about how they teach students.
And the community got a little taste of that as the plant sale also held gardening workshops for those who attended.
“Gardening 101 the basics of building your own garden, and then for the more experienced gardener, composting and soil fertility. Getting to understand the nutrient value that is so important for your home garden,” said Wilson.
The gardening knowledge taught in the workshops has been taught to the students at Buena Vista Elementary, and Kelsie Holman the Site Supervisor says that teaching the youth in Kern County hands-on training in agriculture is vital.
“It's so important. Especially in this community, it’s like we are surrounded by this ag community, and to be able to show kids you know how cauliflower looks when its grown, how squash looks when it’s grown, it’s just mind boggling how much there is for kids to kind of pick up on,” said Site Supervisor Kelsie Holman.
All the hard work that the students put in gardening the plants that were for sale stays in the project as it will help them with more resources for the Edible Schoolyard.
“This will definitely go into purchasing more seeds, purchasing more equipment for the garden, purchasing any equipment we need to preserve food,” said Holman.
Wilson says that the hands-on training for the kids is great for them, but they also want them to learn the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Something he says Kern County needs to improve on.
“Kern County actually ranks really, really low in terms of overall wellness throughout the state. Our role is to inspire students to have a more positive, fun, and healthy relationship with the food they eat, and the best way to do it is through experiential learning in our gardening and kitchen space,” said Wilson.
Wilson says that teaching the children the importance of health and wellness with the food they grow and eat is crucial in providing a healthier future for Kern County.
