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Case Study 9

Behind the Winchester School, a greenhouse nestles along one of the building’s walls. Inside the structure you’ll find evidence of past gardening projects and the sweet smell of New Hampshire’s summer heat. The vents are open in hopes that plants will soon be growing there. Beside the greenhouse, raised bed gardens are home to a smattering of vegetables and other plants. Grasses and other weeds threaten to take over the space and this competition has only been fostered by plenty of rain and lots of sunshine this summer.

Herein lies one of the challenges to keeping up a school yard garden. Once students and teachers leave for the summer, who will tend to the growing crops? This and other topics will be brought to the table of the Winchester School Garden Committee meetings this fall. Despite meeting some daunting challenges early on in the gardening program, Jane Cardinale and her fellow horticultural comrades have the positive attitudes and determination to help this project blossom.

Project Beginnings

The garden program at Winchester School sprouted in 2007 from the desire of assistant principal Pam Bigelow and

local community members to foster a greater connection between students and the food they eat. A generous donation from a local couple provided the school with the materials they needed to get started—raised beds, a small greenhouse, seeds, etc. A garden committee, that consists of school administrators, teachers, and community members, was formed to guide all decisions about the school’s new garden space. Classrooms signed up to use the six raised bed spaces and were given free range of what they could create in these spaces.

Up and Running

To further enhance students’ involvement with growing their own food, an afterschool Garden Club was formed and another garden area was constructed. Teachers have attempted to tie the garden into the curriculum they are already teaching. For example, when fourth graders are learning about seeds, they use the garden as their classroom for part of this lesson. Six teachers have also gone beyond the boundaries of the garden to incorporate vermicomposting into their classrooms. All the worms were added to the garden at the end of the school year so to build the soil.

Hurdles to Overcome

One of the largest hurdles that Winchester School is working to overcome is the lack of garden maintenance in the summer months, when school is no longer in session. Another barrier faced is a lack of knowledge or experience with this type of programming among the staff. Last year the greenhouse got so hot that the plants inside were accidentally fried.  Those plants that survived the overheating were planted in the ground, only to be eaten by a pesky groundhog soon thereafter. Winchester school teachers have also found it to be a struggle to tie existing curriculum into the garden and greenhouse when time is limited.

Planning for the Future

In the coming years, the Winchester school would like to see their garden program grow in the following ways: improvements made to the gardens, utilize the greenhouse throughout the winter, start a composting program in the cafeteria, and begin garden fundraising. Like many new and existing school programs there is an enormous amount of work yet to do, yet the garden committee is excited to see what positive changes they can make in the years to come. First on the list to do next spring is to install a fence around the garden to protect the plants from the groundhog. Another new addition to Winchester School in the spring is an intern from Antioch New England. The graduate student’s time will be spent working with students and teachers, teaching lessons related to the garden and greenhouse to better integrate these resources into the school curriculum.

Advice for Other Schools/Projects

Jane Cardinale has only a few words of advice for other schools who are looking to start a similar school garden program:  Focus on crops that produce in the fall and spring.

Case Study 8

The Symonds School, located just off of Park Avenue in Keene, NH, exemplifies the culmination of dedicated parents, faculty, staff, and students working to beautify the landscape and provide hands-on educational opportunities for all.  A variety of garden beds surround the school grounds, located near entrances, fence lines and within the playground space.  Among these garden plots, diverse annuals and perennials, large sections of sunflowers, and vegetables are scattered throughout.

In addition to the plants growing in these gardens, there is beautiful artwork that creates a sense of belonging, both to the community members that invest time in maintaining the gardens, and to the folks that simply enjoy the area.  There are small huts built out of sticks with plants growing all around them where children play during recess, beautifully painted poles with wish flags flying in the wind, a hand-built patio, and shrubs with various bird species fluttering in and out of the branches.

These garden spaces not only provide great aesthetics to the school grounds; the benefits of this program unfurl for each student, every classroom, and then continue to extend to families, businesses and organizations throughout Cheshire County.

Project Beginnings

Four years ago, the playground area at Symonds Elementary consisted of dust, sand, and pavement.  Parents, faculty, and staff came together and decided that this area needed to be more useful, more  biologically diverse, and more conducive to learning.

Goals were established, grants were written, and the program began to take shape.  A garden committee was formed and art was integrated into the program. Year after year, more and more garden plots sprouted around the school building.

Up and Running

Individuals, families, or classes can ‘adopt’ a portion of the garden and do whatever they would like with it, while following organic growing principles and using native species whenever possible. Two master gardeners that work at Symonds help with some of the planting, advising, and maintenance of the garden beds.  An inspiring aspect of this program is that people not only maintain their garden spaces but purchase new items and really work to make these gardens dynamic.  The program has been funded by a Fish and Game grant, along with donations and fundraisers. The PTA played a crucial role in helping get this program off the ground.

Along with the donation of funds, local businesses have contributed materials such as hoses, tools and compost.  This program is zero cost to the district, which allows for a bit more flexibility.

“Our program is unique in that it is very community oriented and it feels like common space for people versus owned and regulated. There have not been issues with vandalism and it is not just science based,” said Susan Meehan, teacher at Symonds School.

Planning for the Future

The Garden Committee has combined with the Playground Committee to revise and develop goals including:

• grow more food in conjunction with the seasons
• develop a summer program that can help maintain the gardens
• coordinate with wellness education
• create more spaces for children and animals throughout the playground

Advice for Other Schools/Projects

Folks involved with the Symonds school gardens advise other start-up groups to:

• Look into garden clubs for plant donations and seek advice from master gardeners or your local extension service
• Involve your PTA!
• Community awareness about available garden space will help with maintenance and making the space available to more people.
• Have a clean up and planting day to get people engaged and excited about your project.
• The Fish and Game grant was a big help to the Symonds School, and having a focus other than just growing food has provided a lot of opportunities for classes, students, and families.