I have strong memories of weeding the rows into between our corn patch growing up. While I don’t remember particularly enjoying it, nothing beat getting to harvest ears of fresh corn for dinner. To this day, I refuse to eat store bought corn – it has to be fresh! My own experience as a child helped form me into a gardener as an adult and for over 20 years I have pursued a passion for gardening with kids. I love working with kids and helping them see the magic of growing their own food and plants.
As a first-year teacher, I led a gardening unit with my class. We took over a plot in the adjacent community garden and grew all the ingredients we needed for a salad that they got to make the last week of school. We incorporated math, reading, writing, social studies and science into our gardening. For the next 11 years I served as the Director of Children’s Education at Denver Botanic Gardens. I learned from the expert horticulturists how to garden in Colorado’s challenging environment and used this information to create amazing hands-on programs for kids and teachers. I not only got to teach kids about plants every day, I was able to inspire teachers to do the same at their schools.
When my first daughter was born, I became a stay-at-home mom so that I could instill a passion for gardening and the outdoors in her. Now, my two daughters love eating carrots pulled straight from the ground and picking tomatoes warm in the sun to snack on. They decorate their lilac fort with carrot tops and love picking beans from the vines that make the walls of their bean tepee.
As much as I loved being home with my own kids, I felt pulled to do something more and begin working with my neighborhood schools to help them improve their garden programs, forming one facet of Bluestem Design. I’ve consulted with a variety of schools, led professional development sessions, and worked directly with students. I have been the garden coordinator at Lowry Elementary for the last five years where every student in the school is involved in the garden throughout the year. We grew over 500 pounds of produce last year that was distributed to the community through the Food for Kids backpack program and our student-run Farmers Market.
My hope with Seasons in a School Garden is to inspire and help schools, teachers, parents and community members around the world to create their own school garden. I hope you’ll join me on this journey to discover how you too can build a school garden. Feel free to reach out directly if you want to learn more about school gardens. I’m at lisa@bluestemdesign.com.