What happens when you combine inspiration with the intention to connect children to their community farm?  A special partnership that provides a memorable experience for all its participants.

 

Now, in what is likely its sixteenth year, the Sow to Grow program at Crossroads Farm brings together teachers, volunteers, farm staff, parents, and children from a neighboring school district to experience the journey lettuce takes from seed to plate.

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The journey begins with Phase One in early spring. The Crossroads Farm education team visits the children at their schools where they are introduced to the life cycle of the seed, following its growth and development through the seasons in the Story of the Seed. The students meet their lettuce seeds, explore the soil that will become the seeds' new home, and practice making soil blocks. Each child also plants a flower seed to take home and care for.

 

Several weeks later, in Phase Two, the children visit the farm and take their lettuce that has now grown into seedlings and transplant them into the ground. There is a sense of wonder in how a tiny seed has grown into this seedling and as they transplant, the children connect with the earth learning how to dig a hole. Not too deep so the leaves can’t access the sun and not too shallow so the stem will fall over, but just deep enough.  Once planted, the children water their lettuce. The farm also shows them the reciprocal relationship between pollinators such as the honey bees and flowers.​ 

 

Before we know it, it is June and we are in Phase Three, the harvest celebration. There is a hum of excitement on the farm. We take a moment to reflect on how all this came together - the children planting the seeds, the farmers taking care of the plants, the teachers preparing them for this journey, and nature doing its part. We incorporate indigenous wisdom in our harvest where the children talk to the plants, giving thanks, and taking only what they need.

 

Groups of children are assigned specific tasks such as washing the produce, preparing the vegetables, making chive butter or salad dressing, and with a sense of purpose they get to work. The salad comes together beautifully and before eating, they gather in a gratitude circle sharing what they are grateful for. Some children love the salad, most love the bread, and some even make salad sandwiches to enjoy. And then it’s over - until next year when a new group of children will experience the Sow to Grow journey.

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The Sow to Grow program at its core is simple. It’s about connecting children with nature, bringing communities together, and inspiring hope. Programs such as these continue because we have people that believe in its purpose, dedicate their time and talents, and prioritize funding for it. To our volunteers and staff at the farm who spend countless hours planning, preparing, teaching, tending the plants; to the teachers, administrators, parents, and community whose partnership continues to sustain this program; and to the children whose sense of joy radiates to all who experience the program with them and leave their “heart prints” on the farm, a heartfelt THANK YOU!

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Your Friends at Crossroads Farm