Sunny, Flat and Possible (No, This Is Not a Sequel to Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded!)

Peachtree Charter Middle School--A Spot for a Garden from Pattie Baker on Vimeo.

I heard there were new benches at Peachtree Charter Middle School, and that made me think about the benchmark data I intended to gather this past year. So off I traipsed in the cold this past Saturday, with a simple intention of capturing visible evidence on one benchmark item: the number of Dunwoody school gardens. Now, you may think this is a crazy thing to care about in 25-degree weather, but all good gardeners are completely obsessed with thoughts of their spring gardens right now! What's more, I believe DeKalb County is just about to make an announcement regarding a county-wide community garden program (AND we have more than 20 people on the community garden waiting list, with more people asking me every single day how they can get involved, so the interest is definitely growing).

I was hoping to be able to say that every single school in Dunwoody has a school garden in our first year as a city, but that's not yet the case. I haven't spoken with folks at all the schools, but perhaps good ideas are still growing "on paper" and we'll see planting in the spring. I tried to "site survey" while I was at each school and find what looked like the best places for gardens.

The number one best place in the City of Dunwoody for a new vegetable garden is at Peachtree Charter Middle School (see the one-minute long video above, with my usual car-sickness-inducing camera movement and the added pleasure of what-is-that, wind or something?) I actually don't envision a traditional school garden there, but rather a community garden. I would love to talk with folks there (specifically with the counselors) in more depth about some ideas I have.

Okay, let's barrel through the other schools. First, the big, fat success story--

Vanderlyn

This is a bittersweet one for me, because, my goodness, I whined for an organic vegetable garden for years while my kids were there and nothing, nothing, nothing (but that's why I started my own "school garden" at home, so it's all good). But now, here it is:








This garden was installed and planted in mid-September. The secret? A few thousand bucks and Farmer D's foolproof school garden materials. It's one way to go, and it will guarantee you success. (Here is the school garden brochure I wrote for Farmer D, and no, I don't get any commission for raving about his stuff. I've just seen it in action for years now, and it works.)

Kingsley

Can it be?! Can that be a school garden I see? Yes! Kingsley has "put the bones" in place for a garden.






In fact, if you combined the fruit trees (espaliers--very impressive!), bench and sign from Kingsley with the raised beds from Vanderlyn, you'd have a really complete garden (well, there's still composting to add, but we'll get there!).





Chesnut

I see no evidence of a vegetable garden, but here is a spot that might be good:













Austin

Again, no sign of a vegetable garden, but a few spots look sunny, flat and possible:







Dunwoody Elementary

No garden yet, but Farmer D, PTO Co-Prez Kevin Cameron, Principal Clarke and I did a site survey in July and determined that this was the best spot for a vegetable garden:














Dunwoody High

Yes, it's possible, even at the high school. There's enough space right in the front, on Vermack. Consider these two options:





















Please note how very little space five raised beds (like Vanderlyn's garden) take up. You don't have to create the one-acre Edible Schoolyard just yet! And I didn't make it to Hightower yet, but that's next (I know it's not in the city limits, but the kids are part of our school cluster, and therefore our community).

If you are with one of these schools and are ready to dig in but need a little help overcoming some barrier, feel free to reach out and let me know and I will try to help or connect you with a resource, group or person who can assist.

With seeds of hope that every single school in Dunwoody will have a vegetable garden established by Spring Planting (March 15), I'm off to work on my own spring garden. And that means more leaves to crumble and spread, more kitchen scraps to compost, more saved seeds to sort, and more time just sitting by the fire with the Seeds of Change catalog and imagining the possibilities.

I'll be back in January. May your holiday harvest of love, peace and hope be immense.