Freshwater School’s Garden of the Dolphins
The Freshwater Educational Foundation has made our organic school garden a reality by designing, funding, and implementing it’s structure as well as creating a working practical planting schedule for the teachers and students to learn with. The garden is in it’s sixth year of growth and has developed a beautiful structure as well as year round use. The students grow perennial fruits, flowers, herbs and annual vegetables and flowers year round. With the newly implemented planting schedule, each grade level K-6 grows a different crop, planting twice a year. After one complete year, the teachers all rotate beds clockwise and begin the same planting again with a new class. This allows our teachers to become experts with their particular crops and then children learn about all of the crops as they move through each grade. Our 7th & 8th grade charter school runs the greenhouse, starting all the vegetables and flowers for the K-6th grades. They also save seeds from each year, order new seeds, if needed, and hold plant and vegetable sales to help the garden be self sufficient.

Our teachers are completing their first year of learning this planting schedule which will enable them to further incorporate the garden into their classroom curriculum. Each teacher has worked hard over the past year to incorporate this valuable asset into their schedules. Members of the Educational Foundation work with the teachers to assist them with this learning period.

The garden is constantly growing, literally and figuratively. Some projects scheduled for this year include an automated water system, mulch for mud and pest control, portable benches for outdoor classrooms, and a compost structure with several designs to teach our students many ways to nurture the soil. Our garden has inspired an annual Earth Day Celebration, which teaches children environmental science through games and activities. Last year, a living bean pole tunnel was built in the garden by the students.

Thanks to all the staff, students, parents, and the extended community for their support in developing this valuable asset for our children’s education.