Fairview School Community Garden

Thanks to the commitment of Fairview teacher Don Diehl, the garden is used each year as a resource for hands-on learning. School and community members envisioned a green, peaceful oasis in the midst of their neighborhood. This, plus a few perks like the habitat garden and the compost pile, is exactly what they got. Teacher dedication makes this gardening community strong, but it is the kids who make it colorful. Their murals adorn the garden, adding life and color even in the cold winter months.

The Fairview Community Garden is a place deeply rooted in learning and sharing. As a major teaching site for DUG’s education team, Fairview is the place where community members and students meet to learn from each other. This garden is a community focal point, bringing this small neighborhood congregated around the school together in a shared place of open-mindedness and respect.

The summer program at Fairview hosts a group of 5^th graders who work in the garden four hours a week and sell their garden’s goods at the weekly market in the summer. week for a small stipend. July brings the youth farmers market on Sundays, giving students who manage the market first hand entrepreneurial skills and empowering them to learn and teach about the garden and the veggies they grow there. Parents can leave younger children to play in the sandbox at the north end of the garden while they peruse the veggies offered that week.

The education for Fairview’s 5^th graders continues throughout the school year as their teachers implement DUG’s Education Curriculum, bringing life to the in-classroom lessons with opportunities for students to get hands-on knowledge in the garden outside their school window. Other students benefit from the garden, when teachers take classes outside for garden reading time or art classes get some fresh still life opportunities.

The annual Harvest Festival brings the whole community out to celebrate the bounty of the garden with cooking demonstrations, face and pumpkin painting, and other activities to engage and delight the senses.