Vision

Our vision was to create a community garden where members of the St. Philomena community could pick their own food. We wanted a space to grow our own food and share it with those in our community. By working collaboratively together, we wanted to create a food garden. We wanted to learn how to live sustainably by growing our own food, planting, and caring for the things we were growing. We wanted our students to take on a leadership role and be responsible citizens by creating this garden.

Action

We began by creating a plan for the materials we would need for our garden. We purchased two raised planter beds and created another bed on the ground for our garden. We then researched what foods would be best for us to grow. The students had to research which foods they wanted to grow, when to plant the foods, and how long it takes for them to grow. They also had to research how to plant and the best way to care for the plants. Students prepared the gardens for planting by adding soil to the raised beds and cleaning out the garden bed on the ground. Once we were ready to plant, the older students brought younger students to help with planting. They were able to demonstrate leadership skills to the younger students, teaching them about everything they had researched. We planted carrots, onions, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, watermelon, cucumber, and zucchini. The students were responsible for caring for the garden, remembering to water the plants when needed and remembering to check on the plant growth. The food grown in this garden will not only benefit the students at our school, but the entire community, as we are allowing community members to benefit as well by taking some of the food.