The School Garden

We harvested potatoes on a beautiful October day.

Two first graders "dig in" to find every last potato! They were used for potato salad for lunch the next day.

Over the years many of us at Cornwall School have put great effort into helping children develop a sense of place using a school garden has the vehicle. As you might imagine this has been met with varying degrees of success. In the ideal world I have visions of spending sunny spring afternoons outside with my firsties digging in the dirt creating homes for the tiny seeds which will grow into lush and productive plants ready to be harvested (again by the children) when we return to school in the fall. In reality Vermont springs are unpredictable, often cool and rainy, which almost always translates to clumps of Addison clay on the bottoms of boots and an unsatisfying experience. This past year the kinder teacher spent incredible amounts of time enlisting many volunteers to prepare a new garden spot that included a combination of raised beds and room for garden rows of sunflowers, potatoes beans and squash. Her efforts paid off! When we returned in the fall the beds that we planted were producing and the garden was adorned with brightly colored banners created by the children. We look forward to next spring when we can build on this positive start and maybe, just maybe, the sun gods will be with us!