speaking at school about gardening/farming

[littleminnie]

I have gotten talked into finally saying okay to a teacher who has a grant to teach the kids about farming/produce and wants me to speak to them. She asked me in September but I had no time. Now it is down to this Friday for 8 minutes to 5 different classes in an hour. I can pick what I want to talk about. I am thinking of talking about diversity in the garden and all the varieties available out there that aren't at the store. I plan on talking about mostly peppers and tomatoes and maybe showing some pictures from seed catalogs. I was thinking of mentioning Tom Wagner and how he started breeding tomatoes at age 10. Since I only have 8 minutes it needs to be focused; I also don't want the kids to get bored. If anyone has advice that would be great. I have experience with public speaking but no experience with kids! They scare me. These are 8th graders.

[hillbillypie]

I gave a talk once about how closely independence is linked with the ability to produce your own food. I also related it to how gardening saves money on food cost and is healthy in both the activity, and the increased nutrition from fresh produce. I also added that anyone can do it and it takes very little space to produce a good crop of summer vegetables. I even gave away some squash and cucumber seeds. The presentation was less than 10 minutes. I think they were 7th graders and they were very enthusiastic. They loved getting the seeds.

[jcm05]

First off let me say that I admire you for wanting to help out the kids. My opinion would be to stick to something that is more likely to make an impact on 12-13 year olds. Maybe the way they could have an impact on the environment by growing or consuming locally grown foods.

[landarc]

One of the best programs I have seen with regards to teaching the value of gardening to kids has been Alice Waters program The Edible Garden, she has a good 1 minute message.

[reubent]

what people can't see, even most people involved in agriculture, is what a gigantic opportunity is waiting for those willing to get educated and grow high brix produce. A good intro article is at;

levels.westonaprice.org/farm-a-ranch/461-nutrient-dense-food-high-brix-farming-gardening.html

Fertility management is a huge missing element in agriculture, and so rewarding when ya get it right. As a business it will explode. demand for what you grow will exceed supply big time.
If the right ideas could be gotten across to young people, they could run with it and turn it into a very successful business. Although it is true it takes a lot of education to get there, education that can't be gotten at school. It starts with certain books, those seminars are helpful put on by Acres USA and International Ag labs, and then experimental education.
All that could be done in a few minutes would be to give them an idea of what's possible and where to find more info.

[jcm05]

What ever happened with this minnie?

[littleminnie]

Wow I hardly remember. The first class I was nervous and by the last class the kids were screwing around. Some kids asked great questions and mentioned going to the farmers market. I talked about diversity which I think is important in everything.