Vision

1. Increase yearly fruit production
2. Understand organic gardening
3. Producing fruit and vegetables that can feed a community
4. Cross-curricular learning
5. Composting
6. Benefits of growing your own food for the individual and community

Action

Our main focus for our action project was our school garden. The garden is used by numerous classrooms ranging from cooking to life skills to tourism. Though the garden is used every year, we felt that it would have a greater impact on our school community as we increased the amount of fruits and vegetables that it would be able to produce every year. Thus came the grant application. We live in a community abundant in rain in the winter and very dry and hot in the summer. This can be challenging to water as it needs to be watered in large amounts every day. We determined that, though we have one rain barrel, we needed to increase our access to sustainable water. We used the grant to purchase a second rain barrel and a drip hose. The rain barrel has already collected more than six inches of rain! We also purchased fruit trees for the garden. With amazing, rich compost from our massive composting area, we were able to create a large garden bed that will house two fig trees. We also planted a pear tree and two kiwi trees. The tools we were using needed upgrading due to weathering, so some tools were also purchased. Lastly, seeds and starters for this years harvest were planted. We are seeing growth every day and can’t wait to be able to collect the vegetables. This was all complimented through cross-curricular lessons on the plant life cycle and environmental changes we can all make including gardening, composting and our impacts. We believe through teaching together about sustainable food production, we can make an impact not just with our students, but with the communities they are a part of and will enter as they leave high school. We were so grateful for this opportunity to be able to do this!