Out of the classroom and into the garden at Park Avenue Elementary School

“The way you know a radish is ready to pick is that they show themselves,” Park Avenue Elementary School kindergarten teacher Robin Obey told first-graders last Friday morning.

Students eagerly dug through the dirt, pulling out radishes by the dozen and tossing them into a nearby basket. A garden bed over, other first-graders pinched at spinach plants, pulling off the tender leaves.

The class wasn’t taking place at a farm, but outside the school’s doors at Park Avenue’s community garden.

Park Avenue, a part of the North Bellmore School District, takes in students from both North Bellmore and North Merrick.

The garden was a joint venture by Obey and art teacher Jill Skelly. The project “grew out of our concern that children’s outdoor interaction is diminishing,” Obey said. “Our hope was that if they interacted with nature, they would begin to be concerned with it.”

The plan to start a garden took hold during the 2010-11 school year. Once funds were in place and the plan was approved, the school broke ground just south of the building on March 20, 2011. Before Obey and Skelly could get to work on sowing the garden, a fence had to be in place to protect the space. With a $2,000 grant from the Bellmore Lion’s Club, Park Avenue was able to enclose the area and start the new garden.

Once the fencing was in place, the soil was turned over, and six raised planting beds were constructed. Obey and Skelly planted a small number of vegetables and herbs last year. It wasn’t until the first day of spring this year that the garden was ready for a full planting. On March 20, students and teachers took to the garden to plant spinach, radishes, lettuces and herbs. Less than two months later, the garden is now green and lush with life.

All classes are given the opportunity to take advantage of the garden in their own backyard, which serves many purposes beyond nature and health education. Teachers can sign a class up to tend to the garden and help plant and harvest, but the garden can also be used for supplemental lessons. Writing workshops and poetry, art, science, and math lessons have all taken place in the garden.

Being in the garden has encouraged students to learn on all levels, Principal Eileen Speidel said. “They’re always very exited when they’re out here,” she said. “They’re just completely engaged.”