Long before Michelle Obama looked out of her White House window and wondered how a kitchen garden on the West Lawn could be beneficial to the children of this nation, Masuk high school Culinary Arts teacher Peggyann Diaz had similarly stared out of the window in her classroom that overlooked a barren courtyard. She knew immediately how she could put that small patch of sparse grass to work as an instructional tool, and set out to do just that.

She met with Mark Schwartz, her department head, and explained to him her idea for a class garden. “I wanted my students to know how wonderful – and different – food tasted when picked fresh and went directly from the garden to the table,.” she explained. “Yes, my kitchen has produce delivered regularly, but it spoils very quickly. And there is really nothing fresher than a vegetable picked minutes before it is prepared for a meal.”

Mr. Schwartz agreed that the learning experience would be one that would stay with the students for a lifetime, and together he and Ms. Diaz prepared a modest budget. The money allocated for the garden project bought a rototiller, plants, a sprinkler and a hose.

Now it was time for the students to get their hands dirty. They planted an organic garden, and soon carrots, tomatoes, peppers, okra, turnips, potatos, radishes, zucchini and squash were covering the plants.

During the school year, the students tended to the chores of weeding, watering and picking the vegetables. Over the summer vacation, Ms. Diaz and Mr. Schwartz divided the work schedule.

Last year, ecology teacher Bob Pagel got involved with the garden project. His classes began their garden tasks in early spring with the testing of the soil. The results of the test would inform the class if any natural nutrients would need to be added. Next, after consulting with Ms. Diaz regarding vegetable selection, a planting schedule was designed.

“Because of our summer vaction, we decided to design a garden that had late harvesting vegetables,” Mr. Pagel explained. “By doing it this way, our classes would be more involve with the actual use of the crops.”

Many of the vegetables are started from seeds. “It’s amazing to see the pride the students take when the garden starts to grow,” he added. Again, the teachers cared for the garden over the summer months; and at the beginning of the current school year, the ‘fruits’ of the students’ labors were harvested. Pre-kindergarten and special education classes were invited to help fill the baskets with the garden’s abundant produce. They were given some of the vegetables they picked, but most was used by the culinary classes.

Already proving to be an excellent interdisciplinary teaching tool, this year Mr. Pagel reached out to make the garden program even more collaborative by involving the wood shop. “They signed-on to provide wood chips to act as a weed barrier,” said Mr. Pagel. “And I’m already thinking of how other departments can get involved.”

Part of that thinking has to do with a year-round garden program Ms. Diaz and Mr. Pagel would like to develop. But for that to happen, a greenhouse would have to be built.

“We are looking into getting funding for the greenhouse,” said Ms. Diaz. And they would not say ‘no’ to a business donating one to the program.

“A green house would not only enable us to grow fresh produce throughout the year, but it would also enable us to grow flowers, which we could sell at seasonal events. Art classes could decorate the flowerpots and poster art; and business classes could market the event and handle the bookkeeping. The garden could actually become self-sustaining. – There are just so many possibilities…”

Bob Pagel looked at the plot of dirt that would soon be filled with this year’s crops. “The potential is here for this program to become a real cross-curricular activity, one that the school can really be proud of,” he said reflectively. “We’ve gotten it started, but there’s still a long way to go.”