School Garden Dreams – The Edible Schoolyard
March 3rd, 2014
It’s 3 degrees outside, snowy and all I can do is dream of gardens. These garden imaginings take me back to when my children were in elementary school, back in the late 1990s. I organized a school garden program for their school. Every early spring over 400 students came outside to plant cool weather vegetable and flower seeds. Before school was out for the summer the crops were harvested and salad day celebrations took place. I contacted and got information for our school garden program from the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California.
When I got to visit the original Edible Schoolyard for the first time last summer, it was like going to Mecca. And now looking at these photos lets me dream of upcoming spring, my vegetable garden and all the school gardens that will soon be growing.
The Edible Schoolyard is a one acre garden with winding paths and places to gather. At the entrance there are tables and a building with a sign that states Alice Waters’ philosophy about food. I was there one late afternoon with my friend Sharon* from England. We both happened to be in this part of the world at the same time, and our shared love of gardens sent us to visit this one.
Alice Waters set up this schoolyard garden program in 1995. Her words of wisdom like “eat seasonally, eat locally and sustainably, shop at farmer’s markets, plant a garden” and other thoughts are wise for all of us. Alice’s restaurant, Chez Panisse, is a few blocks away from the Martin Luther King school where the garden is located.
The garden wasn’t in full production, but some signs showed things growing in the ground.
Other signs were put away until the next planting.
The chickens were content in their pen.
None were in the chicken tractor.
Fruits was heavy in the trees.
An outdoor oven, of course. I can smell the roasting vegetables.
The edible flowers and underground food of garlic or onion were ready for picking.
And flowers to feed the soul. The mandala shape glows from within on these strawflowers.
I didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked and didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked. But I will be back again.
So for now, I dream of gardens.
* I met Sharon in California in 2000. We share a love of gardens, among other things. Luckily we see each other often. Some of the gardens that Sharon and I have shared, I have featured in past blogs. I visited her at her home in Kent, England a few years back. We went to Sissinghurst. And this past year, on the same day we visited the Edible Schoolyard, we stopped at the Ruth Bancroft succulent garden in Walnut Creek.
