Growing Community

Author: Sarah Pounders

Tara's Tips Where’s the water? "One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how to supply water to the community gardens. Because many schools are limited in how much water they can use and are often unable to provide water access when school is closed, I recommend that schools thoroughly investigate and then secure water sources before offering plots to community members." Pick a point person. "The school needs a point person or garden coordinator willing to commit a few years service to developing relationships with the faculty and the community. This person should be responsible for gradually building the program and securing vital resources, such as school funding support and grants."

As a way to deepen the impact of their garden program, the educators and volunteers of Putney Central School in Putney, VT, created a school-based community garden where the plots are split between school and community gardeners. "We have the space, so it just made sense to open it up to the community," says garden coordinator Tara Gordon.

She emphasizes that just sharing land is not enough to stimulate integration of the two audiences. "We encourage interaction by holding events such as potlucks and summer garden cooking camps." They also waive the plot fee for community members willing to volunteer time to help with the school gardens.

Community gardeners are recruited through newsletters, fliers, the town’s Web site, and word of mouth. "We want to draw people from different areas of the community, recognizing that a diversity of gardeners makes for sustainability." This course is working: The garden started with just a couple of community garden plots, but this year the size of the entire garden doubled because of interest and demand.

"Our principal is very supportive of involving community gardeners and active in encouraging teachers to use the garden with their classes. And teachers have also been very receptive to the opportunities available," says Tara. Other participants include the after school program, a summer literacy camp, the cafeteria staff, and a summer garden/cooking camp funded by a Food Works Gardens for Learning grant. The garden has become a core component of the curriculum and a special resource in the community.