GETTING SMART

In your February issue, you asked if gardening makes kids smarter. My grandchildren are involved in gardens and benefit from it in many ways. They’ve learned the seasons and the best time to plant and harvest, cooperation, tolerance and how to share.

In 1942, the school I went to as a five-year-old had a garden started by the principal; potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, cabbage, silverbeet and onions were the main crops. The boys did the gardening and the girls did the cooking. Every day, vegetables were harvested to make soup and a hearty lunch was had by all. We learned maths, science, literacy and had the chance to be producers of quality food, either by growing and tending it or preparing and cooking it. Celia Geary, FEILDING