How Does Your Garden Grow?

The Edible Schoolyard by Alice Waters.  Chronicle Books, 2008.

Alice Waters explains the process that took place when the staff at Chez Panisse decided to take stake in the empty lot at the middle school down the street from the restaurant.  The text reads like a story, but it serves as a great guideline for how to create community and school gardens.  It is very cool to see all the people who get involved, and how the garden betters everyone life in return.  The bright photographs show the amazing transformation, from drab lot to vibrant garden, a place where the middle school students could learn, retreat, and garden.  The food they make looks amazing and by the end of the book you’ll be asking yourself why not all schools have gardens.

The book does a great job of capturing the perspectives of the different types of people involved in the project, from the restaurant staff, the teachers, school administration, the parents and most importantly, the students.  Also, I like how at the beginning they describe the initial dinner/gathering that the restaurant hosts at the school to get the students, parents, and school staff excited about the garden.  The students, who are all tweens, are tentative at first and worried about looking cool, but once they see the possibilities of potential of the garden, they become the project’s best asset.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in starting a school or community garden.  It would be a great resource to help give tweens an idea about what having a school garden would do for their school.