Le Jardin Academy

Piko, in Hawaiian, is the navel or place for being. Our learning garden, Piko, is the inspiration for our ‘place’ for being. Situated in the center of the lower-school classrooms, it is a gathering place, educational center, and our connection to the earth. It is our hands-on tool for exploring many of our inquiry units, part of our International Baccalaureate programs. When a local farmer said that our garden wouldn’t grow anything, we didn’t throw down the shovel; we dug in. We attended workshops. We created a round layered garden. We used a backhoe to dig out the garden and layered it with cardboard then pure soil, manure and vermicast. The garden has gone through a few harvests and now we wish to expand our crops to include fruit-bearing plants and trees. Our goals also include re-establishing and refurbishing our aquaponics system to increase the yield of our lettuces. Our piko garden is supported by small second-grade gardens that also produce edible produce.