Armstrong Elementary School is undertaking a large garden project which promises to produce food for the school's food programs, while sprouting learning experiences for the students who will be the garden's caretakers.
The $50,000 project will see 12 raised garden beds built on the schoolyard.
The school has 12 classes and once the garden beds are built, each class will be responsible for planning, planting, weeding and caring for one of the 12 beds.
"It's going to be a fantastic space for kids to learn about food security, about planting and harvesting and caring for gardens," said principal Val Edgell.
The project includes sturdy fencing that will run along the garden's perimeter to keep out the deer that frequent the school grounds, and to keep the garden secure after school hours.
Edgell said the plan is to use food harvested from the gardens for the school's breakfast and lunch programs, which students make good use of already.
Armstrong is an agricultural community, and yet many young students don't know much about growing and harvesting food, she said. The school garden program will aim to change that.
"All their food comes from their parents and their parents get it from the grocery stores," Edgell said. "So we just wanted to take advantage of the agricultural area that we live in and have kids know a little bit more about healthy eating and growing their own food."
The program aims to help young students gain gardening knowledge, such as what it takes to grow different foods, how certain vegetables root, how they germinate, how much water they need, and so on.
The idea for the school garden came from a couple school staff members who brought the idea to parents at a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meeting. The parents were immediately enthusiastic about the idea, Edgell said.
"We have some parents on our PAC group who are incredibly knowledgeable about gardening," she said.
One of those parents is Mary Jane Duford, whose daughter is in Grade 2 at the school. Duford has assumed the role of PAC garden director.
"I have been gardening since I was a kid, just at home, and was lucky enough that my dad built us a garden as a child," she said.
After leaving Armstrong, Duford moved back to her hometown and was able to buy her childhood home where her dad had built the garden, and built a bunch of new garden beds in her big back yard.
Duford started up a gardening blog and eventually got her Master Gardener certification.
While she's not a trained horticulturalist, she did run the garden project by one of her favourite horticulturalists, Ken Salvail, a Kelowna gardening radio mainstay who is the host of a The Garden Show on AM 1150. Salvail was also one of Duford's instructors in the Master Gardener course.
Salvail came to the school, assessed the property and provided some advice related to water supply, fencing, layout and other tips for making the garden project work.
"He's just a complete wealth of knowledge. We couldn't have had anyone better to come in and consult as a horticulturalist for us," Duford said.
The plan is to have the garden boxes ready for planting by the spring. Duford said so far the students are mostly wanting to plant vegetables, with corn, carrots and peas being popular suggestions.
After school hours and in the summer months, the school envisions the garden to be a community space for people to visit.
Some other local master gardeners — former teachers who are now members of the Armstrong Garden Club — will also be able to come into the school and support current teachers with giving hands-on gardening lessons to students.
Edgell is already looking ahead to the lessons kids will be able to glean from the garden.
"A lot of people don't now how easy it is to grow your own food and how much different it tastes when you have fresh produce," she said. "It just takes doing it a few times for people to start to feel confident and be able to do that."
The garden is receiving support from She Shed Vernon, whose volunteers will be building the garden boxes with materials supplied by the school.
The project is in the final preliminary stages with the school hoping to secure grants to cover the $50,000 cost. The school is also looking to attract donations from the community to get the project across the finish line.
Anyone wishing to donate can contact the school at 250-546-8778. Donations can be made by e-transfer, cash or cheque, and tax receipts will be provided for donations over $20.
