Growing up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, I spent much of my childhood playing in the “rooms” on my maternal grandparents’ 40-acre homestead and learning how to cook, bake, garden and live according to the natural cycles of the growing season. Having survived the Great Depression, my grandparents and mother lived the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) out of necessity and a desire not to waste resources. Learning to appreciate the bounty of the harvest was a lesson they shared with me—and one I’m eager to pass on to the next generation.

It saddens me that important life skills like cooking and gardening have been eliminated by schools across the country. My dream is for every school to have a learning garden where kids can explore, play, dream, create and fall in love with nature just like I did. My goal for Nature’s Schoolyard is to empower children to be superheroes for Mother Nature—and together save the planet, one garden at a time.