Saint Mary’s Academy

Video

About our Garden

Please describe your garden, is it raised beds, in the ground, do you have a greenhouse?

1 greenhouse
2 in soil garden boxes
2 in ground garden beds
10 apple trees
1 cherry tree
11 blueberry

... and building.

What vegetables/fruit do you grow in your garden? What do you have a difficult time growing in your school garden?

Potatoes, apples, cherry, carrots, oignons, garlic, asparagus, etc.

Why did your school decide to add a school garden?

We are moving towards experiential / project based / student led learning.

For the environment and our planet.

Help with food insecurity.

What classes participate in the garden, what subjects are taught in the garden?

k-12

K-1 do composting
2-4 - make little plants
5 - outdoor learning, work on it for different learning opportunities
6-8 - sunflower beds, green cone
9-12 - build things, culinary tech, etc.

Who manages the garden day to day? Who manages the garden over the Summer break?

Students, families, teachers. Eventually we want a summer student.

What do you do with the harvest from your garden? Do you have a harvest celebration? Do you use it in the cafeteria, or culinary classes? Do you donate some of the produce?

Culinary classes, morning breakfast program for students and summer crops donated to local food banks.

Do you have community involvement? Do you have parents and volunteers? Have been able to source other funding to help your garden grow?

Parent volunteers.

Other funds were from UNI community grant.

What are your future plans for the school garden?

Keep growing, making it sustainable and building learning based on our environment.

Phase 2 of our food forest will happen in 2021-2022.

Any words of encouragement/tips for a school starting a school garden?

Keep dreaming! Every dream has a solution and people who want to help. These projects inspire so many students, parents, teachers and even community members. These projects bring hope, joy and happiness. They also put the learning back in the hands of students, out of books and experts. The process is hard, but so worth it. One step at a time, one day at a time, little projects become big dreams.