Della Davidson Elementary School - Green Education Foundation | GEF

2015 Challenge Runner Up

Della Davidson Elementary School
Oxford, MS

We began the “Food for Thought” garden two years ago through a program in our district called “Good Food for Oxford Schools." We started with six old garden beds used previously on the playground for flowers. They had been trampled on and were falling apart. We had parents who helped us move the beds to a fenced in area, and we put the beds back together. We began planting and saw wonderful results our first year. We even had enough harvest to give samples to over 500 students in the 3rd and 4th grades. This not only excited us about promoting healthy eating, but it got us started on the right foot to do it all again the next year!

We get our supplies from donations and from the teachers’ pocketbooks. During our second year, we were able to add two new beds, 6 pear trees, lots more veggies, paint to add color, picnic tables, and old tires to line a car path. The students absolutely love going out in the garden. They not only learn about planting, science, and math, but also how to respect nature and the importance of healthy eating.

If we are awarded the grant, we plan to buy a compost tumbler so that we can use preconsumer waste from our school cafeteria. We would also buy mulch, soil, and seeds so that we can plant our fall and winter crops. Our soil is currently in poor shape. It is lacking the nutrients needed. We have the basic needs of a garden: shovels, gloves, trees, etc… but in order to sustain ourselves we must get better soil. This is also why we plan to compost. It will allow us to use waste from our school and turn it into much needed soil!