Classrooms

Garden Themed Minicourse, Fall, 2007

by Robin Lasersohn, Service & Partnership Learning Coordinator

As one of the ten garden-themed mini-courses this fall, Kim and Robin have been leading a small group around the subject of urban gardening. How is gardening in the city similar and different from gardening at SRV or at our (mostly) suburban homes? Why do some schools in Philadelphia have vegetable gardens? Do the students grow the same things as we do? What are community gardens? Why do families have to go somewhere else to grow food and flowers? How do gardens help beautify Philadelphia and improve the quality of life for city-dwellers?

We began by reflecting on our own school garden and observing and recording some key information, such as where it is located, who exactly gardens here, what we grow, and why the garden was created to begin with. Then we watched a short movie produced by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Green City program, which is full of information about the many benefits of urban gardening and greening projects. The kids were especially struck by the before and after images of empty, trash-strewn lots that were transformed into life-filled, inviting green spaces.

On the remaining Wednesdays in the session, we have been visiting different gardens in Philadelphia and recording the same set of information that we observed about our own garden, so as to compare and contrast. The first visit was to the St. Francis Xavier School garden in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. There we met with Brandon Peterson, the Religion Director at this parochial elementary school, who is also the visionary behind their new garden, which is located in the adjacent yard of a closed convent. We were delighted to find newly planted apple trees–just like in our garden at school. Many of the vegetables were familiar to the kids, such as tomatoes and peppers, and a few were not–such as Brussels sprouts and okra. As a special thank you for visiting, Mr. Peterson gave each student a small pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. At the end of the visit, we realized that Dawn, Maureen, and Anu had all been to a school gardening workshop at St. Francis Xavier last summer and had helped to actually build the raised beds we saw!

The next week, we visited Spring Gardens, one of the largest community gardens in the city. 160 families have garden plots in this beautiful patchwork garden, which takes up an entire city block that over a decade ago had been the site of just a few remaining dilapidated old homes, which were removed to make space for growing. It was fascinating to see how each family had personalized their little area and had made different choices about what to grow and how to organize it. Some families were clearly trying to produce as much food as possible, while others were more interested in flowers and decorative plants. One plot was essentially organized as a tiny backyard, complete with a miniature lawn, little lanterns, and a table and chairs where the young couple could sit in the evenings. Doris Stahl, our host and guide, generously shared some of her last cherry tomatoes and invited the kids to sample various herbs and greens from her own plot. She also gave us flower seeds from the last of the flowers to take back and plant here at school.

The next and last week, we will visit the Hansberry Community Garden and Nature Center in Germantown. We can't wait to see what this next garden is like. Although our mini-course group is small, Kim and I are happy to make these new connections in the city and will keep open the possibility of future partnerships and collaborations with the inspired gardeners we met.

Google

20 School Lane : Rose Valley, PA 19063 : 610.566.1088 : office@theschoolinrosevalley.org