On my first visit to the middle school horticulture class I learned that every student was responsible for maintaining a virtual plant. Each day they logged onto a computer which provided them the condition of the plant,  statistics and all the tools to maintain it. I brought in carrots, kale & radish seeds
so that they could also experience growing a live plant from seeds. It was fun watching the students navigate through the virtual plants and also tend to their live plants. I was curious which plant they thought was harder to grow (See video). Each student was also responsible for maintaining garden beds outside the classroom on campus; each day they had to weed their beds readying them to transplant the seedlings.

After visiting the class several times it was clear to me that the students were starting to take an interest in what they were eating. Most of the students were happy to see me and eager to eat the vegetables I had brought in. One student knew what composting was and was responsible for composting at home; a few had helped their parents in the garden. After they tried the gluten free Mac & Cheese with chard, kale “Dino” chips and different juicing recipes they seemed more open to trying different vegetables.