Patience is a virtue when it comes to growing plants, Grade 3 science students at Queen Elizabeth School will have to wait a year to sample some of the food-bearing plants in a Cenovus Food Forest project.
That’s okay for student Hadley Monseler who was helping to plant strawberries with her classmates on Monday afternoon.
“I’m prepared to wait until next year,” she said.
The food forest project is all about teaching kids about growing sustainable food.
“It’s our wonderful Cenovus Food Forest day,” proclaimed school principal Ryan Mather.
The plants, trees and shrubs donated by Cenovus Energy included strawberries, raspberries, cherries, Saskatoon berries, and some blueberries.
“So we have our Grade 3s out here learning all about plants in their curriculum,” said Mather.
Young Hadley had the process down pat for planting a strawberry bush.
“We have to water it and we to make them bud and we have to dig a hole and then we have to put it on there,” she said.
The planting area took place in front of the school and along the south wall with a flurry of student activity, described by Mather in real-time.
“They are digging holes and getting dirty. We see lots of kids with trowels and their gardening gloves on,” he said.
One of them was Parker Engel, planting a cherry tree.
“I love cherries,” he said, describing how important these plants are to the ecosystem.
“We need them and we plant them so we can eat them.”
Mather advised none of the plants will bear fruit this year except for a couple of raspberries.
“This is all about the future,” he said.
“Their teacher, Leah Muir is going to teach them about the plants and the plant cycle and what we have to do to keep our plants healthy with fertilizer and sunshine.”
Mather says students will take care of the plants so after next summer they’ll be able to harvest “some wonderful fruit” from the plants.
Winston Churchill School and Bishop Lloyd Middle School will also receive fruit trees in partnership with Cenovus for planting on Sept. 25.
Last year, the program planted trees and plants at E.S Laird Middle School and Lloydminster Comprehensive High School.
Read more: Cenovus invests $2.5M in skills pipeline
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