Planting seeds yields fall crops and life lessons

BY MARY WILSON, ACES

AUBURN — With continued hot weather, gardening may be the last thing on people’s minds. However, this is the perfect time to begin planning and planting seeds for a fall garden.

Along with providing nutritious, fresh food, growing a fall garden as a family can reinforce lessons students are learning in the classroom. Doyle Keasal, an Alabama 4-H associate and author of Reading a Seed Packet, said gardening integrates a variety of disciplines — from math and science to reading and problem-solving.

“When children get to plant a seed, they’re learning through every step of the growing process,” Keasal said. “They see what a seed looks like and how it should be planted. They learn about germination. Plus, they observe how a plant changes from the time it emerges as a se