"I like the new foods we get to try and the shoveling," said a student member of Leverett Elementary's fledgling garden club, supporting the idea that students are more likely to try new fruits and vegetables that they have a hand in growing.

Previous FPS Food Service Director Lisa Jenkins said, "I think getting kids back to the process of growing food and seeing where their food comes from is key to instilling life-long healthy eating habits. School gardens can benefit kids in so many ways by incorporating what they're doing in their curriculum and in the cafeteria." Current FPS Child Nutrition Director Adam Simmons agreed with that sentiment and said, "whole foods make whole students." Simmons also said that any produce grown in the school gardens could be served in the school cafeteria.

Owl Creek School: Castings and Composting

Students from Deirdre Leonard's Pre-K class at Owl Creek School have some new pets in their classroom: earthworms. They have a worm bin and have been doing their own vermicomposting to produce a supply of valuable earthworm castings, which make wonderful plant fertilizer. The students have been feeding the earthworms and have used the resulting castings to fertilize one raised bed in their garden. They will be comparing the growth of the plants in that bed with the other beds, to see if the fertilizer makes a palpable difference in the growth rates of the plants.

View a slideshow of Pre-K students at Owl Creek School mixing earthworm castings into the soil and planting strawberries, green beans, pumpkins, and marigolds in their garden.

Asbell's Green Team and the Whopper Sweet Potato

Technology Integration Specialist and Asbell garden co-founder Annie Langston said, "There was no money, just a group of great people. It all started at a Fayetteville Community Garden meeting, and it blossomed from there. From digging the compost to seeing the kids' smiles when they pulled their first radishes it was a great fun experience."

Asbell's Green Team Coordinator Dianna Reyes helps students maintain the garden, which produced a 12.8-pound sweet potato this fall. Parent volunteer Kathy Collier said, "My gosh, that garden was amazing this summer. It literally put out pounds and pounds of vegetables... But when we went to dig sweet potatoes this fall I almost fell over when I saw this thing!" The potato was used to make sweet potato pies, which were then donated to the Boys and Girls Club for its Thanksgiving feast.

Dependence on Volunteers and Nonprofit Organizations

One hurdle to starting a school garden is dependence on volunteer individuals and organizations. A successful garden requires regular tending and can be a sizeable time commitment for busy teachers. Students are absent during summer, the best time for growing many fruits and vegetables.

Asbell's garden is dependent on parent volunteer Kathy Collier, and was started through a volunteer effort. At Leverett Elementary, local nonprofit Apple Seeds, Inc., has worked with students and teachers to start a school garden on a donated plot of land close to the school.

Parent, board member of Apple Seeds, and horticulture and sustainable agriculture expert Christine Haller said, "I'm really motivated by helping people get excited about the natural world. I'm inspired by connecting with plants and nature, and I think the chance to experience that connection is one that all children deserve."

In addition to seventeen raised beds, the Leverett garden features a strawberry patch, fruit trees, and blackberries. Leverett's Garden Club also benefits from the involvement of the University of Arkansas GroGreen Horticulture Club, whose members are helping with the garden on a regular basis.

View a slideshow of Leverett’s Garden Club working on edible landscaping and planting raised beds.

View another slideshow of Leverett’s Garden Club weeding and learning about compost with members of the University of Arkansas' GroGreen Horticulture Club.

In another partnership with a nonprofit, Washington Elementary worked with the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks to build the school a butterfly garden. BGO supplied the school with caterpillars that became monarch butterflies.

Using Gardens to Help Teach

Learning about metamorphosis by watching caterpillars develop into butterflies is an experience of a different magnitude from reading a textbook. Principal Ashley Garcia said teachers regularly use Washington Elementary's butterfly garden to help teach about life cycles.

Pioneering programs like the Edible Schoolyard in Berkely, California, have used school gardens to offer hands-on, experiential learning in a wide array of disciplines, including science, math, language arts, visual arts, and nutrition. The Edible Schoolyard calls itself an "interactive classroom," where each of the nearly 1,000 students participate in harvesting and preparing produce as part of their classes.

Fayetteville Public Schools Director of 21st Century Learning Jenny Gammill said, "School gardens provide multiple ways for 21st century learning to take place, giving students the opportunity to develop collaboration and communication skills, as well as life and career skills, including productivity, responsibility, and leadership. Furthermore, school gardens provide an authentic purpose for learning about healthy lifestyles and sustainability."

Fayetteville High School ALLPS Greenhouse

Students from Fayetteville High School's ALLPS program designed and built a greenhouse as part of a collaborative effort between Andrew Milburn's Geometry class, Jon Gheen's Service Learning class, and Linley Lyerly's Biology class. The Geometry students designed and planned the structure; the Service Learning students built it; and the Biology students will plant an organic garden and conduct genetics experiments. However, "There is a lot of overlap in the students in our classes, so many students were able to participate in both the designing and the building of the greenhouse," said Gheen. Milburn said, "A lot of our students are hands-on learners. When math becomes real it's a lot more exciting."

FHS Service Learning Program Collaborates with Wood Street Head Start

In another gardening effort involving FHS students, the Service Learning program will be starting and maintaining a garden at a local Head Start facility. Head Start is a national school readiness program which provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. This project was spearheaded by FHS Assistant Service Learning Coordinator Jonathan Bame, who said he hopes that the garden will serve as a teaching tool as well as a source of fresh, nutritious food for the children at the Head Start. High school student earn elective credit when they sign up for Service Learning, a program designed to get students involved in helping their community.

Other School Gardens

Other schools with gardening activities include Root Elementary, where kindergarteners and first graders plant sunflowers each year. Happy Hollow Elementary has a rain garden, greenhouse, and school garden. Holcomb Elementary school has a butterfly garden. Many schools offer landscaping days where parents and students maintain plant beds and courtyards. Butterfield Elementary is working to develop a garden, but the school must first overcome drainage issues.

White House Organic Garden

The spread of school and community gardens has even captured the attention of First Lady Michelle Obama, who planted the first kitchen garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II.

An article in The New York Times reports that while the White House's organic garden will provide food for the first family's meals and formal dinners, its most important role is to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern. Twenty-three Washington DC fifth graders are helping Mrs. Obama tend the garden.

"My hope," the first lady said, "is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities."

Local Organizations Assisting with School Gardens:

• Apple Seeds, Inc.
• Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
• Fayetteville in Bloom (479) 521-0934
• University of Arkansas GroGreen Horticulture Club
• Fayetteville Community Garden Coalition

Other Gardening Opportunities for Kids:

• Yvonne Richardson Center FUN4KIDS summer and afterschool programs
• Junior Master Gardeners: contact the Washington County Extension office at 444-1755