The Armstrong Elementary School Garden is a new community-supported garden project built during the 2024β2025 school year. The idea started with an idea from staff who wanted to create a hands-on learning space for students and the staff asked the school's Parents' Advisory Committee to fund and build the project. We hoped to build a garden where kids could learn about food, nature, and sustainability.Β
In April 2025, over 50 volunteers joined us for a full-day work party to build the raised beds. In May, each class planted vegetables, herbs, and flowers, including seeds donated by West Coast Seeds. We held a grand opening celebration in June with speeches, music, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Now the garden is used daily by students, teachers, and community members.
The garden directly serves approximately 265 students at Armstrong Elementary School. It also benefits hundreds of parents, families, staff, volunteers, and community members who visit, help out, or use the free seed library. The broader impact includes families who grow food at home using seeds from the garden and the many locals who donated time, money, and materials to make it happen.
We want to inspire a love of growing things. The garden is meant to connect kids to the land, their food, and each other. It teaches responsibility, curiosity, and creates life-long confidence. Our long-term goal is to support food literacy, create a strong sense of community, and help our kids know that they are inherently gardeners at heart.
Gardening gives people a sense of agency and connection. When students see that they can grow their own food, they gain pride and independence. Gardening brings people together, reduces stress, supports mental health, and teaches practical life skills. For families, it becomes something they can do together at home. For our school, itβs a source of joy and learning.
Our rural town values self-sufficiency, outdoor activity, and community traditions. Many families in Armstrong garden at home or would like to start. We have many farming families and our local farmersβ market is a summer staple. Growing plants is part of our identity. This garden reflects those values and passes them on to the next generation.
We built the whole garden through volunteer labor and community donations. Local businesses donated money, trees, soil, equipment, and seeds. Each class made a commemorative stepping stone for the opening ceremony. We also started a free seed library so families can take seeds home to grow with their kids.
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