Students in the South Douglas Elementary Garden Club recently had the opportunity to taste cranberries and learn how they are grown and harvested.
As part of the focus on cranberries, students learned about where they are grown in the U.S., read a book written by a cranberry farmer, and tasted fresh and dried/sweetened cranberries and compared the two.
“We (discussed) cranberries due to their popularity during the holiday season particularly but also talked about how a lot of people eat dried cranberries as something ‘sweet’ that isn't candy and drink cranberry juice for its health benefits and because it tastes good,” School Garden Club Coordinator Natalie Murray said.
SDES has thriving Garden Clubs for lower grades and upper grades, with 120 students total participating, Murray said.
Students in the Upper Grades Garden Club also got to harvest broccoli and cauliflower and eat the vegetables, Murray said. While cranberries do not grow in Georgia, Murray said the broccoli and cauliflower was grown at the school as its fall season garden crop.
South Douglas’ Garden Clubs also maintain four Bee Hotels, which provide a safe place for solitary bees to lay their eggs for the winter months. The Bee Hotels are part of a larger effort by South Douglas to become an official "Pollinator Habitat," specifically for the endangered Monarch butterflies, Murray said.
