The fava bean plants were infested with aphids, so we pulled them out before they produced many beans, but even so, they served many purposes and hosted so many lessons in our garden! Fourth graders pulled out the plants, cut them up, and added them to the compost pile, to add nitrogen. They studied decomposers earlier in the year, and are starting to studying erosion, and this activity was a hands-on way to reinforce what they are learning about these topics.
Kids loved finding ladybugs in the fava patch. Even though I worried about the safety of the ladybugs when kindergarteners held them, I think the students learned a lot about how to be gentle with little creatures, and about what kind of habitat these animals like. One kindergartener decided that aphids are her favorite bug, because they bring the ladybugs...she's already thinking about interconnectedness at age 5!
Lots of classes tasted fava leaves throughout the winter, when there weren't as many options for foraging. Many kids (and this was true for me, too, until fairly recently) don't have a great concept of where beans come from, or the life cycle of a bean plant, so it is really cool to investigate this and eat the fava bean flowers, too. We even made pesto from the leaves.
Back in the fall, Maestro Ben gave me some plastic cups filled with soil and sad, spindly fava bean plants that his first graders had grown. For an experiment about what plants need to grow, they had planted seeds and put each one in an environment lacking either light, water, air, or soil (and of course a control as well). When he no longer needed the plants, my rockstar parent volunteer Sue and I planted these little plants in arbitrary spots, more to humor Ben and his students than anything else...I did not think they would survive. I was wrong! Now, six months later, they're booming, blooming, and producing beans.
Ben's favas have some aphid issues, but not as bad as the other patch. The other day, when my middle school Seminar class was making some salad, an 8th grader picked a fava pod and I was showing her how to get to the beans. She noticed aphids on her hands, and asked, "What do I do?" to which I responded, "Don't freak out!" She asked if she could go to the bathroom to wash her hands, and when she came back she continued to harvest other vegetables for our salad. I was proud of her--interacting with nature in this way is new to many of my students, and they are constantly impressing me with their openmindedness and trust.
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| Kindergarteners learned about insects' bodies and then made "edible bugs" using fava leaves as the wings, and finding real bugs along the way. |
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| Fava leaf pesto with ELD students |
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| Bono was checking out the aphids and ladybugs |
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| The favas on the left were once leggy and living in a little plastic cup, and now they're doing great! |
I designed this tote bag to raise money for BVHM's garden program. I am asking $20 each, and all proceeds go towards garden and lesson supplies. If you would like to purchase one, please email me (pclarerothe@educationoutside.org) by Friday, May 24th. 
