Buckwheat has been planted on Grandview elementary school grounds, two varieties of wheat will go in the next few days and plans are to introduce habitat for mason bees.
These are some of the East Side "Earth" school's initiatives designed to connect students to learning and their surroundings.
Growing wheat in an urban setting captured headlines in recent weeks after the Environmental Youth Alliance landed a $5,000 city grant for its Lawns to Loaves project, which will see 30 homeowners replace their lawns with wheat. The NPA has called the grant decision flaky while Vision Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»politicians see it as symbolic.
Brent Mansfield, Grandview's garden project coordinator, said the school has dedicated a three-foot by 50-foot area at the front of the property to showcase its wheat. Mason bee habitat, known as mason bee condos, will also be introduced on the property with help from the EYA. The non-aggressive bees are great pollinators, according to Mansfield, and the school will be planting fruit trees later this month. He said the publicity surrounding EYA's Lawns to Loaves project has been useful. "It ends up bringing a bit of positive attention. It's a little bit silly how it was all handled and I'm a bit disappointed that an educational project like [Lawns to Loaves] and a food-based program would be used as a tool to try and bring others down but it actually also brings some positive light to good stuff happening in the community."
Mansfield picked up two varieties of wheat seeds from Ian Lai who runs a garden project in Richmond and who has grown grain and baked breads.
Lai is a chef educator and program manager for the Richmond Schoolyard Society. He's also worked on food-related projects in Vancouver. Lai maintains any project that connects people back to the earth is worthy of recognition. He says wheat is great as a natural border or "living fence" on school grounds or other gardens. He started growing it four years ago and says it creates social awareness. While a school can't grow much to mill, it can produce enough to bake a few loaves of bread, he said, adding students learn about food.
"[The] practicality of growing volume is a challenge but definitely worthwhile. Wheat growing anywhere, including a tub on your balcony is a show stopper. Wheat is so simple and beautiful as it changes from green to light brown. People stop and look, ask questions, light bulbs turn on. Growing wheat is literally 'throw and grow' and is successful for even the blackest of thumbs. It magically creates community."
But Lai is now focused on other growing experiments. "I have a whole section of fava beans. They're nitrogen fixers, they're green manure, they're food-you can eat the leaves, you can eat the seeds and leaves. The whole thing is very useful for gardening and growing," he said.
Twitter: @Naoibh
