On a 30-degree May day, beads of sweat run down the foreheads of the kids in Class Two of the second grade. But there are no complaints because the vegetables they've been watering every day have sprouted. Today is harvest day.

With the help of parents and volunteers and the landowner "Grandfather Chen," Nangang Elementary's organic garden is green year round.

Experience over book learning

"Mama Chen," a 51-year-old volunteer, calls out instructions in a loud voice: "We're going to eat the water spinach stems and leaves, so break them off at the roots and don't pull the roots out."

"Why is this one so short?" "Will it grow again after we pick it?" There is a volley of questions from the field. One little girl with her hand in a patch of Romaine lettuce looks at a loss about what to do next. Two boys in the next field over hold their picked water spinach into the air to show everyone.

This is their first time learning to pick vegetables, but don't think this is their first time working in the fields. A few eager boys brag, "When we were in first grade we used organic soil with coffee grounds to plant strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and red onion."

The kids learn about the crops as they grow them. Teacher Dong Meixiu says that as other city kids are memorizing lifeless formulas like "With carrots, we eat the root and not the stem," these kids who work in the field use their senses to experience things firsthand. "The reality of the farm changes the way the kids learn," says academic director Hsu Yu-chien.

Nangang Elementary, founded in 1914, is nearly 100 years old. Its farm is on a patch of land the ownership of which had been unclear for 40 or 50 years. Because of this the school didn't dare to use the land and it went to seed. Just three years ago, a man in his eighties who they call Grandfather Chen, who is somehow connected with the rights to use the land, showed up at the school with a proposition. He wouldn't mind if they turned the land into farmland, with part of it for use by himself and part for use by Nangang Elementary.

Prime location

Hsu says that since the plot of around 330 square meters is near the Nangang Exhibition Center and the science park it is prime real estate. Calculating at NT$800,000 per ping, that puts the market value at near NT$100 million.

What people love to talk about even more is the fact that Grandfather Chen volunteered to act as a consultant to the school's teachers and students. Principal Tang Chaang-horng recounts the following story: During one class, the teacher pointed at some bright red flowers near the corner of the walls and said they were birds of paradise. Grandfather Chen, who'd been tending his vegetables nearby, overheard this and immediately stood up, saying, "Those are canna!"

The indignant Chen then decided to personally show them how to plant bananas. Now, there are more than 10 fruit trees, including bananas, kumquats, and lemons. When the fruits are ripe, Grandfather Chen hands them out to students and teachers holding classes in the field. Thanks to Grandfather Chen's help, Nangang Elementary's educational garden has crops in all seasons.

Nangang Elementary has just been selected as the outstanding natural science school of 2009 by Taipei City's Department of Education. The students know they are luckier than most since they don't have to wait until they are retired to try out the life of a farmer!