Paul H. Cale Elementary
Charlottesville, VA
The Cale School Garden is located at Paul H. Cale Elementary school, just south of Charlottesville, Virginia. We are also only three miles away from the home of one of our countries greatest presidents and premiere gardeners, Thomas Jefferson.
The Cale School Garden began in the fall of 2009 with a 1600 square foot vegetable garden in which we have grown a variety of three season crops. This spring we are beginning an additional 600 square foot flowerbed that will host a number of annuals and perennials, many of which are Virginia native species. This garden will help us qualify to become National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat. The literal "fruits" of our labor are shared among members of the community and donated to local food banks.
In the future we hope to expand our composting program and begin to water the gardens with captured rain and grey water. We are also, after consulting with two landscape architecture students at the University of Virginia, beginning to plant a small apple orchard. The site of our school was an orchard many years ago, and we’d like to pay tribute to our agricultural roots.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the generous gifts of time and energy by volunteers, from parents and siblings, to local farmers and small business people. In addition to the included photographs, you can see our students, teachers, parents and other volunteers in action at our blog: http://calegarden.blogspot.com.