Third-Graders Cultivate Green Thumbs in Garden

The tomatoes are still too green for picking, the strawberries are ripe red and by the fall, students at Bonita Street Elementary School in Carson will have a crop ready for harvest and a greater knowledge about agriculture.

Spearheaded by a class of third-graders who wanted nothing more than to plant fruit and vegetables at their school, the Community Built Garden was open Friday when the class led the rest of the school on a tour of the garden. The class built the 600-square-foot garden and has left room so that each class at the school can harvest a crop next school year.

Local businesses and residents contributed about $1,000 for the garden, which teachers have been hoping to open for at least seven years so that students would have another outlet for learning.

“This is something we have been trying to get going for a garden for a very long time,” said third-grade teacher Naomi Bolin. She said the garden is making academics fun for the students, who are calculating the growth of their crops, documenting the kind of bugs that are drawn to each plot and learning about why certain plants are doing well while others are not.