Gardening and Education

At UTCDC we want children to have experiences with nature. One of the ways we foster this is to have gardens on the children’s playground. At our San Jacinto center the summer garden produced vegetables and herbs. The Panda Bear Class learned how to make zucchini bread with zucchini from the garden.

Children learn a lot about the food they eat, the importance of the environment and lots and lots of science skills by gardening. If you have a sunny space in your backyard, patio or deck, I encourage you to grow something that can be used in the kitchen. While your plant grows get your child involved. A younger child can help water the plant while older children can document its growth. Get a ruler and make a chart of how tall it is getting. Notice how the plant will lean towards the sun. An easy herb to grow in the ground or in a container is mint. Mint has a wonderful smell, can be added to tea, lemonade, water or even homemade ice cream.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini

1. Grease and flour pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.