We received the following poems this past February via foss@berkeley.edu. Jim wrote the poems when he was teaching the New Plants Module to his second graders. The FOSS staff enjoyed them and hope that you will, too.

The Humble Brassica

A fleck, a speck—
This seed would lie so lonely on a plate.
A spot, a dot—
It only takes two days to germinate.
A root, a shoot—
This cousin to the radish wastes no time.
A leaf! Relief—
The stem will stretch and slowly start to climb.
Two, four—then more—
The pairs of leaves line up to lap the light.
A bead, a bud—
Atop the stem they swell, then overnight. . .
Kaboom! A bloom—
A yellow crown to advertise to bees
The need for seed—
So won't you come and pollinate me, please?

Lawn in a Cup

A plastic cup with holes punched in the bottom,
A scoop of soil that's damp but not too wet,
A pinch of seed—two pinches if you've got 'em,
A week, a sunny windowsill—you're set.
You've grown a lawn four inches square, and green.
Now all that's left to do is somehow buy
A lawnmower no bigger than a bean
And pushed by a determined dragonfly.

Alfalfa

All heifers fully favor
Filling up on some alfalfa.
The sprouts are full of flavor—
Try falafel with alfalfa.
It follows that a fluffy
Furry bunny loves alfalfa.
Don't laugh, or get so huffy!
Try alfalfa for yourselfa.

The Onion

This doorknob looking for a door!
I can't imagine what it's for.
Its waiting for a friend to pour
Some water on, and then some more.
Up through the roots the waters
And then a slender shoot will grow—
On warm days fast, on cool days slow
And soon enough we all will know.
For when it grows ten inches high,
Just take a snip and give a try—
Your monster breath! Your burning
It's all enough to make you cry.
Far better to have sliced the things
Into a pile of ivory rings,
Battered, dropped in oil that sings—
An onion feast for onion kings.

If your creative juices start to flow (and/or those of your students) while you're teaching FOSS, we'd love to see the results of your efforts. You can email them to us at foss@berkeley.edu.