Donate for the Holidays
Fri., Dec. 12, 2008
Garza's Gardens Program, Gonzalo Garza Independence High School
1600 Chicon, 414-8667
www.austinschools.org/campus/garza
Students/vegetables. Herbs/business. School/gardens. Responsibility/community. What do these terms have in common? A great deal, at Austin Independent School District's alternative Garza High School in Central East Austin. Guided by teacher Martha Cason, Garza's Gardens is a thriving multicredit study program helping students learn success and responsibility alongside economics, business, ecology, nutrition, and horticulture.
Begun nine years ago as a school-ground landscaping effort, Garza's Gardens currently includes 22 vegetable plots and 16 herb beds where students grow organic vegetables and culinary herbs. Each student in the program is in charge of at least two plots; every semester the students research, select, plant, tend, and harvest their own crops.
The original idea was for garden produce to go to the school's cafeteria, but due to AISD consolidation, Garza no longer has an autonomous kitchen; now vegetables are sent home with students or used for class cooking lessons donated by Austin's Les Dames d'Escoffier. One of Cason's goals is creating a viable campus lunch program using garden bounty, not only to feed students and staff but to serve as a community example for making tasty meals from local and nutritious ingredients.
The herb plots constitute the market garden; students apply basic economics to real-world business. Volunteers from Students in Free Enterprise at Texas State University mentor classes in accounting practices and marketing plans. Students grow, pick, and sell fresh herbs at the Triangle Farmers' Market each Wednesday; money earned defrays business expenses, and the class "company" invests profit back into the program. Garza-grown herbs also go to St. Edward's University food service and Farm to Table, a local, organic wholesaler that supplies Jeffrey's and Aquarelle, among other Austin food venues.
Cason has big ideas for expanding Garza's Gardens education and community opportunities. In addition to the garden/cafeteria enterprise, she's planning to plant additional herb and veggie beds and fruit trees, rework the compost system, finish the greenhouse, develop a rainwater-harvesting system, and ultimately, build an atrium-greenhouse classroom. With expanded capacity, she envisions students providing produce, plant starts, and compost to community groups such as the Sustainable Food Center. "The donation of materials, money, or expertise would be gratefully appreciated," Cason says. "I need a rainwater expert, for example. Complete materials for a raised garden bed cost around $250." But, she says, "community support is the most valuable gift we could be given." To make a donation to Garza's Gardens, contact Martha Cason (414-8667, martha.cason@austin.isd.org). – MM Pack
