School gardens

I first read of Caitlin Flanagan's article here. After reading the source, I was indeed puzzled by Flangan's tone although I have to say that I may make take on the same feelings if my middle schoolers were subjected to a curriculum that revolved entirely around school gardens as it was portrayed in the article. (Is this true?) Andrew Gelman updates with some positive results on science for kids who spend their time in school gardens.