Schmitt Learning Garden

 Garden Leader: Laurie Schneyer (laurieschneyer@gmail.com), Slow Food Denver

Schmitt Elementary’s Learning Garden is the result of a partnership between DPS, Learning Landscapes, Slow Food Denver and the Kitchen Community. The garden was installed as part of the Learning Landscape recently completed at the school. We held a huge work day on September 24, when over 100 parents, students, teachers and community members filled beds, planted
trees, perennials and annuals. We even welcomed Colorado’s governor, John Hickenlooper, who planted a cabbage plant with the kids! See the write-up in the Denver Post here.

Our plans for Schmitt’s Learning Garden are to integrate it into the curriculum so that kids get even more out of the garden. They are free to enjoy the un-gated garden at any time, and we
want them to understand what is growing, ready for harvest, how to eat it etc. We also plan to develop a garden committee at the school so that parents, teachers
and kids continue to impact what is done with the garden.

On Oct 25, we held our first harvest class. Mr. Van Wieren’s 4th grade class harvested greens and herbs, washed them up, added chopped tomatoes and apples and learned how to make a
simple vinaigrette. The reviews ranged from “awesome” to “nasty”, but at least they tasted it! Many of the kids enjoyed the contrasting flavors, and were amazed how differently the greens tasted once the vinaigrette was added.

Next step is to meet with the teachers and brainstorm how we can best use the Learning Garden to support the
curriculum and any special projects they might want to try.