On a very rainy day last week, Ashcroft Communities in Bloom members worked with Ms Shrumm’s Grade 4/5 class at Desert Sands Community School, offering them a lesson on the transplanting and care of tomatoes.
The students were given a bit of information about tomatoes, and were then shown how to transplant the tomatoes from a small pot to a larger one. The type of tomato used is a patio variety, which means that they are specifically designed for pot culture. Communities in Bloom chose this type because all students may not live in a home with a garden. This way they will be able to either keep them growing in the pot, or plant them directly into their home garden if they have one.
There is an additional phase to the lesson on tomatoes, where the teacher will be working with Kathy Paulos, the curator of the Ashcroft Museum, who will come to the classroom and explain how tomatoes were an important part of Ashcroft’s history.
The students were able to do the transplanting under the cover of the portico at the front of the school. It was a pleasure to work with these young people. They were respectful, attentive, and well-mannered, and excited to show off their newly potted tomato plants.