Montessori Children's School of Key West, the private, nonprofit school for children from preschool age through kindergarten, maintains a vegetable and flower plot at Green Living and Energy Education (GLEE) at the Key West community garden.

Every week the students walk from their classrooms to their raised planting beds, learning valuable lessons along the way.

"The community garden provides a wonderful opportunity to teach the children about organic gardening," said teacher Adele Williams.

Since the start of school, the children have prepared their beds for planting by turning the soil and combining it with rich, black compost they make themselves on campus. In addition, they have layered the pathways between the beds with cardboard and mulch to suppress weed growth.

"It is vital that we teach today's generation to preserve and protect their fragile island ecosystem by using environmentally friendly methods," Williams said.

This week, they learned about companion planting and how the use of nasturtiums and marigolds along the perimeter of the garden deters pests and nematodes and provides an alternative to toxic pesticides.

They hope for a bountiful harvest of strawberries and tomatoes, which they germinated from seeds back in the classroom. They plan to plant their seedlings once the weather gets a bit cooler. The young children also learn to appreciate what Mother Nature can provide, and they love to dig into that class every week. icture caption

Montessori Children's School's students, class of Adele Williams on its weekly visit to the Glee Community Garden