In Progress Images
Community Garden - Chester, Vermont
Developing the community garden began in the fall of 2008 as an effort to help improve the six small existing gardens that a few parents were doing their best to maintain. The parents wanted to create a garden to provide an outdoor classroom for Chester Andover Elementary School, healthy food for students and garden space for local community members to grow their own food in a community garden plot.
In effort to involve the elementary students in all aspects of the process, the fifth and sixth grade classes were asked to help with design ideas. A brainstorming session was held and then each student was given a scaled plan showing the existing features to express their own ideas. The various ideas were then studied and combined by a smaller group into the final design.
The students were involved in seed starting in the spring. Parents and teachers organized days to help with the installation along with our efforts. An outdoor classroom was enjoyed instantly after seats were created from an overgrown tree that needed to be removed.
Over the summer many families and community members maintained the garden. In the new school year classrooms were given time to tour the garden, harvest the produce and try new foods.
Each of the galleries listed below intends to show the various aspects of this project.
Seed Starting and Garden Installation
