Historic Anselma gristmill grows healthy curiosity
The seeds of education will be planted this summer in a children’s demonstration garden for young green thumbs at the Anselma Farmers and Artisans Market.
The “School’s Out for the Summer” children’s demonstration garden program officially opened June 24 at the market, located in Chester Springs.
This is the first year that the market will offer children’s garden program; the market itself opened just last summer on the grounds of the Mill at Anselma, a water-powered gristmill built in 1747 and a registered national historic landmark.
Throughout the summer, students will have the opportunity to participate in a market-wide vegetable scavenger hunt and build a “zucchini 500” model car race. As they work in different parts of the garden and learn new skills, they will receive stamps in “gardening passports.”
Market manager and children’s class instructor Yvonne Post calls Anselma an education-based farmers market.
In addition to business as usual — selling local organic fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, eggs, crafts and pastries on Wednesday afternoons — the market holds weekly activities to educate children about gardening. Throughout the year, the farmers market held a variety of children-focused interactive programs to provide information on sustainable agriculture and the promotion of creating gardens in their own schools.
In the fall, Post plans to invite local school groups to learn in the garden, until the market closes for the season in late October,
Post, a health and nutrition educator who works with local schools on garden projects through “Cooking for Real,” her private education company, will harvest items such as squash, potatoes, kale, collards, lettuce, herbs and crops throughout the summer and early fall months in a 10-foot-by-12-foot garden.
A member of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Post sees the demonstration garden as an opportunity to help children become interested in where food comes from and acquire a taste for fruits and vegetables. Educational sessions will be held at the market, rain or shine.
“A great way to get kids involved is to allow them to have a say in what they are doing. When children grow their own food, they are so much more willing to try it,” she said. Children will be able to choose what is planted in the garden, and take it home after the harvest. In the meantime, they will learn about the stages of gardening.
“So many children in Pennsylvania don’t know where their food comes from. I just want the children who haven’t been to a farm, and don’t have a garden at home, to have a place to call their own,” Post said.
To teach the sessions, Post is collaborating with a science teacher from the Montgomery School in Chester Springs.
Teacher David Klein works with students in the garden and teaches them about environmental science.
He calls the garden an endless outdoor learning space for students. At his school, which includes kindergarten through eighth grade, teachers incorporate a nine-bed garden into lesson plans for subjects like math, art and literature.
“It’s a huge learning experience, and really ties them to an experience that they can learn from and attach to memory. It’s really endless what they can do in a garden,” he said.
At the market, Klein and Post will teach students the gardening process, including activities such as tilling, composting, harvesting, weeding and seed planting and care. Klein hopes that children who attend will learn to make better eating choices and recognize that it takes land to make food.
“If we don’t teach kids to value what is around them in terms of nature and plants now, we can’t expect them to act in such a way that would protect those things in the future,” he said. “It’s important not only to teach kids what they should eat, but also to help them understand and acknowledge what is around us in nature and agriculture.”
The “School’s Out for the Summer” children’s demonstration garden program officially opened June 24 at the market, located in Chester Springs.
This is the first year that the market will offer children’s garden program; the market itself opened just last summer on the grounds of the Mill at Anselma, a water-powered gristmill built in 1747 and a registered national historic landmark.
Throughout the summer, students will have the opportunity to participate in a market-wide vegetable scavenger hunt and build a “zucchini 500” model car race. As they work in different parts of the garden and learn new skills, they will receive stamps in “gardening passports.”
Market manager and children’s class instructor Yvonne Post calls Anselma an education-based farmers market.
In addition to business as usual — selling local organic fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, eggs, crafts and pastries on Wednesday afternoons — the market holds weekly activities to educate children about gardening. Throughout the year, the farmers market held a variety of children-focused interactive programs to provide information on sustainable agriculture and the promotion of creating gardens in their own schools.
In the fall, Post plans to invite local school groups to learn in the garden, until the market closes for the season in late October,
Post, a health and nutrition educator who works with local schools on garden projects through “Cooking for Real,” her private education company, will harvest items such as squash, potatoes, kale, collards, lettuce, herbs and crops throughout the summer and early fall months in a 10-foot-by-12-foot garden.
A member of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Post sees the demonstration garden as an opportunity to help children become interested in where food comes from and acquire a taste for fruits and vegetables. Educational sessions will be held at the market, rain or shine.
“A great way to get kids involved is to allow them to have a say in what they are doing. When children grow their own food, they are so much more willing to try it,” she said. Children will be able to choose what is planted in the garden, and take it home after the harvest. In the meantime, they will learn about the stages of gardening.
“So many children in Pennsylvania don’t know where their food comes from. I just want the children who haven’t been to a farm, and don’t have a garden at home, to have a place to call their own,” Post said.
To teach the sessions, Post is collaborating with a science teacher from the Montgomery School in Chester Springs.
Teacher David Klein works with students in the garden and teaches them about environmental science.
He calls the garden an endless outdoor learning space for students. At his school, which includes kindergarten through eighth grade, teachers incorporate a nine-bed garden into lesson plans for subjects like math, art and literature.
“It’s a huge learning experience, and really ties them to an experience that they can learn from and attach to memory. It’s really endless what they can do in a garden,” he said.
At the market, Klein and Post will teach students the gardening process, including activities such as tilling, composting, harvesting, weeding and seed planting and care. Klein hopes that children who attend will learn to make better eating choices and recognize that it takes land to make food.
“If we don’t teach kids to value what is around them in terms of nature and plants now, we can’t expect them to act in such a way that would protect those things in the future,” he said. “It’s important not only to teach kids what they should eat, but also to help them understand and acknowledge what is around us in nature and agriculture.”
