1st Place Organic Gold Award
Wilson Elementary School
Wilson, WY

The Wilson Elementary School children's garden just finished up a very successful and rewarding second season. The garden was started in the spring of 2002 with teachers, parents, community members, and school children giving up weekends to participate in work parties at the garden site. We built raised beds and double dug existing dirt which we enhanced with manure, compost, leaves, and chopped straw. A local organic farmer donated a truck-full of soil to top off the beds, to which we added aged manure and kelp meal.

Each spring the first graders have started seeds indoors to transplant to the garden once it warms up. Together with their "third grade buddies," they work to turn the compost pile and prepare the beds for planting. They strategize where to plant using a rotation system and sow the seeds for the early crops, and merrily sing the school's Garden Song. This song was composed by the children with the help of a local music teacher. The song is about the life cycle and parts of the plant, information which consequently is required to meet the first grade science standard. The teachers use the garden to enhance learning in their study of the life cycle and the structure and parts of plants, observe seasonal changes, and record weather data.

The children learn the importance of working as a team and the responsibility we all have to keep our environment healthy and self-sustaining. By gardening organically, they make a connection to the earth and the healthy foods it yields to them. They learn one of the most important lessons we can teach them — that by taking care of the earth, it will take care of us.

By growing vegetables themselves, the kids are willing to try new ones. The joy and pride they show when snacking on freshly picked peas, carrots, cucumbers and even onions, is truly rewarding. A common sight in our garden is to see the young gardeners working away at their tasks with a pungent chive hanging from their mouths.

Learning about organic gardening doesn't stop when school is out for summer vacation. At this time the garden is left in the capable hands of the Garden Club. An adult garden leader, assisted by parent volunteers and community members, meets with the children twice a week all summer to work in the garden and share in the harvest. Their dedication is rewarded with something fresh from the garden each week to take home and share with their families. Friends, siblings, and visiting grandparents are always welcomed in the garden and give the young gardeners a chance to share their knowledge and accomplishments.

When school resumes in September, our garden is still producing the fall crops. Children who weren't able to participate in the summer program now get a chance to harvest vegetables they planted as tiny seeds in the spring. A large display is put together by garden club kids in the main hallway where teachers, parents, and friends can see the fruits of their labor. Some of the vegetables we displayed were potatoes (red and blue), onions, carrots, garlic, and a wide variety of greens. Sliced cucumbers and pesto made during garden club were available for sampling. Bunches of herbs including oregano, mint, chives, sage, rosemary, and basil were set up by a sign inviting everyone to smell their distinct and pungent differences. There were also small bottles of calendula oil that the children made from blossoms they dried, with the intent of being used for cooking or simply to rub into skin.

In our country, many things come quite easily to most children. Because gardening requires planning, hard manual work, problem solving, and time, it teaches students the value of delayed gratification and rewards. Self-esteem and respect for all living things are enhanced by being a part of something as miraculous, simple, and life-giving as a garden. By consistently adding organic matter we are giving back to the soil all or more than we have taken. Our resources are precious and they will be finite if we don't teach our children to protect them. These are the life lessons we take with us from the garden.