Some of my fondest childhood memories involve my grandmother’s wonderful garden. I regret that I didn’t have the opportunity to learn about gardening from her, since my passion for whole foods nutrition and raw foods ultimately leads to the conclusion that we should grow at least some of our own food.

The idea of learning gardening skills and teaching them to our children was already planted when I first heard about the new Community Gardens of Oak Cliff group. The Community Gardens group aims to serve as an umbrella organization, providing expertise, support and volunteers for school, church and neighborhood community gardens. I immediately thought of all the land at Rosemont.

When we presented the idea of a school garden to the Rosemont Site-Based Decision Making Board, they gave the project a green light with one caveat. “It needs to be a community project,” says Rosemont principal Anna Brining. She didn’t want to burden the teachers and administrators with more responsibility. However, many teachers are excited about the project. A school garden presents so many unique opportunities for learning that just aren’t available in the classroom. The developing garden committee includes teachers Bret Turner and Jillian Langston, who helped with digging the samples for soil testing.

The plans are underway to begin a garden at Rosemont with the ‘08-‘09 school year. First and fourth graders, as part of the “science buddies” framework, will cultivate the first plots (just four to start) and prepare the way to expand the program in following years. The idea behind starting small is to keep maintenance requirements low while working out the details of the program and to ensure its future success. Students and DISD-approved parent and community volunteers will manage the maintenance. The garden will most likely be located on the west side of the primary campus, in the area between the school and the new housing development.

This summer, the focus is on fundraising and getting the infrastructure ready. “The garden needs water, fencing, a tool shed and some basic garden equipment and tools,” says Jenni Stolarski, Community Gardens representative. Donations in money, service or materials are gratefully appreciated.

The plan is to break ground after school starts so that the children can be an integral part of the garden from the beginning. In addition to working on fundraising and infrastructure, the existing garden committee will plan a garden kick-off celebration, as well as training for community volunteers.

The future looks bright, if we follow the example of Mark Painter, the founder and outdoor science lab teacher for the school garden at Stonewall Jackson Elementary. At Stonewall Jackson, the garden has grown over the years into a 20,000-square-foot outdoor science lab that includes an herb garden, a wildscape, a greenhouse, a pond, a rockscape and a compost area. The Rosemont garden design includes adding new plots every year to expand the program until every child has a little garden space.   

For more information, please email rosemontgarden@sbcglobal.net. If you would like more information on the other community gardens sprouting up, email communitygardensofoakcliff@gmail.com.