The setting of my first blog is a community garden. The benefits of connecting children and gardening are plentiful. As a farmer’s daughter, I still have a direct connections between crops and food, but for most people that is not the reality. Gardening can be a great learning experience.  It is good for kids to get dirty, try, fail, succeed, and persevere.  It is important that kids know where their food comes from.  Yes, it’s time-consuming.  Yes, it’s messy.  And it yes, it can be very rewarding (even for adults). Now with the recent trend in community gardening, it can even connect you with others in your community.  So come on…big or small, get in the gardening game!

 

Alejandro Martinez, CSI: Watermelon Mystery

Today at approximately 12:25 p.m., I received a call. Not just any call, a call that would change my life.

“No, Noah’s not here. No, I haven’t seen him this morning. Is he at the garden? Sure, I would be glad to check on it.”
As I turned my bike into the community garden I expected to see Noah meticulously weeding the watermelon patch. I walked all around the perimeter of the garden. No sign of Noah anywhere. Suspicious. I was starting to believe we needed an investigator for this case. Noah lived for gardening, and lucky for him, I lived for misterioso (mystery). Escena del Crimen (Crime Scene Investigator), Alexandro Martinez, was on the case.

 

After securing the premises with crime tape, I began conducting my investigation. The first piece of evidence found was Noah’s bicicleta (bike) lying by the watermelon patch.

I scanned the garden for witnesses. I noticed a woman working in the tomato plot right next door. Mrs. Johnson loved gardening as much as Noah. She was here all the time.

“Have you seen Noah?” I asked Mrs. Johnson.

“Yah, I sure did. I saw him this morning weeding the sandia (watermelon) patch, but when I looked up he was he was gone.” Said Mrs. Johnson confused.

“Interesting. Very, very interesting….” I mumbled.

“He didn’t even come over to say hello. He always says hi.”

I decided to search the watermelon patch for clues.

Clue 1: Noah’s bike was still lying by the patch.

As I walked through the melons, I saw something I could not believe.

“Rex, what are you doing here?” He looked up, but he didn’t move. His hopeful doggy face looked bewildered.

Clue 2: Rex lying in the watermelon patch.

Very perplexing. Rex was always by Noah’s side. Where could mi amigo (friend) be? And why was Rex still here?

Why would Rex stay near the watermelon patch when Noah was nowhere in sight. Maybe Noah’s mom would know what to do.

“No luck.” I texted Noah’s mom. “Can I drop by?”

“Sure, I’m getting worried.” Bev quickly replied.

As I pedaled my bike my mind buzzed with questions, but the biggest one remained. Where was my best friend?

Talk about it….

Where do you think Noah is?

Did you learn any new Spanish words?

Do you like watermelon?

Can you describe what watermelon tastes like?

What could you compare a watermelon to? Think about: shape, color, weight, design.

 

Come by again to see what happens next in the Watermelon Mystery!