OWASCO - Desiray Oliver is used to helping her grandmother plant flowers in her garden. But she still gets uneasy at the site of a worm.
Ten-year-old Desiray and her classmate, Giorgi Ervolina, encountered plenty of squirmy bugs when planting cosmos in Owasco Elementary School's new butterfly garden Tuesday afternoon. Desiray worked up enough nerve to move one of the worms out of the hole she just dug, but carefully moved others aside using her trowel.
Giorgi wasn't so adventurous and left the worms to burrow in the soil.
"They're fine when I'm not picking them up," said 10-year-old Giorgi about the worms.
The girls and their classmates in MaryClaire Pineau's fourth-grade class at Owasco were one of five classes who got dirty in the garden.
The garden is the culmination of their yearlong curriculum on conservation with guidance from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County.
"They've been looking out the window all day wondering when they were going to go to the garden" Pineau said. "We didn't get much done today."
The students did quite a bit of preparation work before hitting the dirt Tuesday. In the fall, students prepared the site behind the school by starting a "lasagna compost pile" - layering newspaper, straw, cardboard and other biodegradable items - said Kelly Fallone, extension environmental educator.
They also had a hand in designing the garden. It has dozens of plant varieties, each of which serve a purpose. Some brightly-colored flowers are meant to attract butterflies, and other plants like milkweed will serve as food for growing caterpillars.
"What amazes me is that they've retained it all," said Cheryl Miskell, another fourth-grade teacher at Owasco Elementary. "Now they get to see it in reality."
Even the extension's master gardeners, who helped the planting along with extension staff, were impressed with what the students already knew before coming into the garden.
"They understand the art of planting," said Master Gardener Debra Brock.
Brock was sure to impart on her young proteges that it's just as important to admire your work as it is to plant flowers in the first place.
"It's exciting that they are so willing to learn and enjoy it," she said. "If they can get that love of growing at this age, it will never stop."
Staff writer Liz Hacken can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or
elizabeth.hacken@lee.net
Giorgi wasn't so adventurous and left the worms to burrow in the soil.
"They're fine when I'm not picking them up," said 10-year-old Giorgi about the worms.
The girls and their classmates in MaryClaire Pineau's fourth-grade class at Owasco were one of five classes who got dirty in the garden.
The garden is the culmination of their yearlong curriculum on conservation with guidance from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County.
"They've been looking out the window all day wondering when they were going to go to the garden" Pineau said. "We didn't get much done today."
The students did quite a bit of preparation work before hitting the dirt Tuesday. In the fall, students prepared the site behind the school by starting a "lasagna compost pile" - layering newspaper, straw, cardboard and other biodegradable items - said Kelly Fallone, extension environmental educator.
They also had a hand in designing the garden. It has dozens of plant varieties, each of which serve a purpose. Some brightly-colored flowers are meant to attract butterflies, and other plants like milkweed will serve as food for growing caterpillars.
"What amazes me is that they've retained it all," said Cheryl Miskell, another fourth-grade teacher at Owasco Elementary. "Now they get to see it in reality."
Even the extension's master gardeners, who helped the planting along with extension staff, were impressed with what the students already knew before coming into the garden.
"They understand the art of planting," said Master Gardener Debra Brock.
Brock was sure to impart on her young proteges that it's just as important to admire your work as it is to plant flowers in the first place.
"It's exciting that they are so willing to learn and enjoy it," she said. "If they can get that love of growing at this age, it will never stop."
Staff writer Liz Hacken can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or
elizabeth.hacken@lee.net
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