March Blog 4

How's It Growing

You would think that the children of Honeysuckle Hollow would be sad to return after spring break – but that is definitely not the case! All the kids look forward every year to returning to school because that is officially the beginning of a new season! Springtime marks the start of their annual ‘Watch Us Grow’ theme at the Cares-A-Lot Kindergarten. The kids all get to create their own mini herb gardens, learn about plants and (you guessed it!) watch as they grow. The Tippytail Fox Family own and run the Cares-a-Lot Kindergarten. This year Suzy Tippytail and Tommy Tippytail have a few new ideas that are extra special.

On the first day of classes the students raced to their seats at the Cares-a-Lot Kindergarten. The room buzzed with excitement as the kids reunited and told stories until they noticed the large box at the back of the room. A hush fell over the classroom.

“Hey! What is that box over there Ms. Tippytail?” asked Chuck Cottonball.

“Yeah! What is that strange light over top of it?! It looks so bright!” piped up Luna GreyPaw.

“I am so glad you asked kids! Great questions! Gather around here,” Suzy called to everyone.

The students got in a circle around the box. There was a large mound of dirt but they could not see anything else.

“Don’t get too close to the light – it is very warm,” explained Ms. Tippytail before continuing, “This year we are expanding our ‘Watch us Grow’ theme. The light is for extra warmth. We are going to grow vegetables inside! Can you guess which veggie is our focus?”

At first there was very little to see and each day the soil looked the same. Until one day a bit of green peeked through. And with that the guesses began.

“Look there!” Howie pointed to a large leafy green stem that had burst from the soil.

“Wow!!” cried the other students. They could see that small hints of green were appearing in lines.

“We cannot disturb the rows,” cautioned Suzy Tippytail before continuing, “but we can till the soil.”

The kids all let out a big cheer! A few looked confused.

“Let me explain, this year we are growing carrots! The reason you can’t tell is because carrots are a root vegetable and grow down into the soil!” Suzy said.

The kids nodded starting to understand a bit more.

“I can’t wait to eat them!” said Nibbles Handydandy.

For the next three weeks, the students could hardly contain their excitement each morning as they entered the classroom. They had grown different herbs over the years, but they had never grown vegetables start to finish. Never.

The kids took turns tilling the soil and watering the carrots – making sure to be gentle.

“When will we know when they are ready Ms. Tippytail?” Chuck asked.

“We have to be patient! All great things take time, hard work and patience!” Suzy told her class and they all agreed.

The kids had been tracking the carrots and after over two months and 2 weeks had passed they saw a star on their calendar. Today was the day!

“Everyone grab a spade! We will start to loosen the soil!” Suzy said.

The kids grabbed their gardening tools and began to move the soil around the leafy green tops of the carrots until they saw a bit of orange.

“Look how big they are!” said Nibbles Handydandy.

“Yes, you can see that they are about an inch across – which means they are ready to eat!” said Suzy.

The students lined up and each grabbed onto the tops of a carrot.

“One! Two! Threeeeeeee pull!” called out Chuck.

The students all looked around to see each holding a carrot that looked similar but unique. They could hardly believe they had grown them from teeny tiny seeds.

“Well! What are we waiting for?!” asked Suzy, “Lets clean them up and dig in – you have more than earned what will surely be a delicious carrot snack!”

Tune in next week!