On Monday morning, members of the Fort Dodge Federated Garden Club helped the six preschool classes at the Early Childhood Center plant green beans to take back to their classrooms and homes to watch them grow this spring.

“We love to garden and we want to spread that love and share that love with others,” said garden club member Jan Klass. “In fact, the National Garden Club, which is the big overriding organization that we belong to, has goals of environmental stewardship and appreciating nature, and we want to get kids started early.”

As classes filed into the activity room, volunteers with the garden club helped the tiny horticulturists take their green bean seed and plant it one inch deep into their cup of soil.

“We specifically chose green beans because they are big seeds for their little fingers,” Klass said.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Jan Krass, left, of the Fort Dodge Federated Garden Club, shows a class of preschool students at the Early Childhood Center how to plant a green bean on Monday morning.

Royce Ely, a student in Tasha Pierce’s preschool class, predicts that his green bean plant will grow to be “102 tall,” though he left the units of measurement up for interpretation.

Berkleigh Haughland, who is in Andrea Pavik’s class, has slightly more modest expectations — she stretched her arms out wide and said that’s how big she thinks her green bean plant will be.

Haughland said she is excited to watch her plant grow and her favorite part of the activity was getting to use a watering can to water the plant.

Ely said his plant is going to grow nice and tall so he can climb on it, but he’s not really interested in digging his hands into the soil again.

“That was disgusting,” he said.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Preschool student Ja'Niyah Foy waters her green bean plant she planted with help from the Fort Dodge Federated Garden Club on Monday morning.