Brookside sows a garden in the schoolyard

Sometimes a garden feeds more than the body.

Students at Brookside Elementary School this week are planting seeds that will advance their curriculum, provide fresh produce for needy families and bring together a community in a shared growing experience.

The Three Sisters-Settlers Garden, which was prepared by the community last weekend so that students could sow their seeds, will grow for years to come on the grounds at the elementary school in the Brookside Estates subdivision.

It is an important part of the Schoolyard Enhanced Learning program at the school. Designed to prepare students for the 21st century, the program transforms the school's extensive outdoor space into a classroom with enriching activities and lessons that can also be taken inside.

Each grade level will plant seeds for a variety of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, edamame, carrots, pumpkins, herbs, zucchini, onions, peppers, garlic, cilantro and gourds.

Teachers will have their own bed in which they will grow beets, sweet potatoes, eggplant, lettuce and spinach.

In a section of the garden called the Three Sisters, corn will grow, forming poles for beans. Squash will grow closer to the ground, creating needed shade.

The Settlers Garden section honors the Indians who settled in the Brookside area. The Mingo and Wyandotte Indians' symbol was a turtle. The garden is in the shape of a turtle.

The Settlers garden will be put in next year. Community members will be able to plant their own sections.

The Native American theme will also be played out in a solar calendar designed by sculptor and former Brookside student Chris Taylor. The calendar will feature a gnomon whose shadow will indicate the solstices and equinoxes, ancient seasonal indicators for planting and harvesting.

The garden was developed with the leadership of Local Matters, which held a community visioning session and contracted with designers Amy Dutt and Denise Gualtiere of Urban Wild Ltd. to design the gardens.

Community families helped prepare the gardens last week, and will take over the weeding, watering, and harvesting this summer.

Sara Wilson brought her children Sammie, 4, and Jamie, 2. On Saturday morning, they wheeled and dumped mulch in their pint-sized wheelbarrows.

The Wilsons belong to the Smoky Row Brethren Church, which serves about 30 local families at its food pantry. Food from the Brookside gardens will be donated to the pantry.

"It's great and the kids are having fun," she said. "It's good exercise for them, and gardening is kind of a lost art, especially vegetable gardening."

The produce still available when school starts in the August will be harvested and prepared by Brookside students, who learn about healthy foods through their curriculum.

Brookside principal Fritz Monroe worked alongside students and families last weekend. The garden, he said, is an important project of the school.

"I'm excited to see the community coming together," he said.

cbrooks@thisweeknews.com