ARLINGTON, Va. — Students, teachers, parents and volunteers are chipping in to grow a chance to fight food insecurity at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School community garden.
The Arlington garden where people work on everything from composting to harvesting serves as an active learning experience for everyone involved. Young people find out about the science and sustainability of gardening and volunteers come together to help get fresh produce to those who need it most.
"My favorite thing about the garden is the way that you can tie real-world applications into what the students have to learn in science," said Kaila Leonberger, a teacher of the subject at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and the school's sustainability liaison.
"At first, the kids are not super into it, because they're too cool; they're middle schoolers," Leonberger said with a laugh. "But then when they come back to the garden later, and they're like, 'Oh, are those the beans? Like, I started those beans? That squash, I did that? And it's like, 'Yeah, you did!' It's just, I think it's really cool for them to experience."
The garden is now in its 12th year of operation after it was founded in 2010 as a Girl Scout Silver Award project by Cadette Troop 557. Since then, a portion of the produce goes on to community members in need and today produce is donated to the Plot Against Hunger program, run by the Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture.
Although the middle schoolers have continued to be the garden's life force, it also couldn't function without passionate and dedicated volunteers, like Jefferson Garden Manager and PTA Garden Chair Reidy Brown and her daughter, an alumna of the school, Sarah Fontaine.
When Fontaine started 6th grade at the school, her mother jumped right into volunteering with the Jefferson garden efforts - much to her displeasure.
"She immediately stopped going to the garden - just immediately - that was it," Brown recalled of her daughter at the time.
"I remember I was not super thrilled about her doing stuff with my school. I was like, 'No, that's embarrassing, mom, go away,' because I was a sixth grader," the current high school senior reminisced. "I also kind of was not into gardening, like at all. I thought it was a lot of hard work and kind of just boring," she remembered of her younger years.
However, nowadays, as they often do with mothers and daughters, the tide has turned: the pair now bond over their shared passion for working in the garden, relishing the time to connect with neighbors and to get out and work for a good cause.
Once she hit high school and the pandemic invaded daily life, Fontaine discovered a newfound joy in the social outlet and the pride in a job well done that time in the garden often promised.
"It's really rewarding because we get to see all like the hard work . . . we have so many plants. It's so satisfying to harvest," she said. "One of my favorite aspects of community gardens is the community part. I think it's really important. It's kind of great to just talk to different kinds of people."
Both the mother and daughter shared that despite the summer heat and dealing with the elements in the garden, they don't plan to stop their work any time soon. Brown often heads in to toil away three or four times a week to ensure everything is coming along as hoped.
Most of all, everyone involved in the garden encourages other neighbors to swing by and join in the fun.
"Especially when you keep coming back and you get to see the change. Like, if you go once, it's like you don't get that, but if you keep coming and you keep seeing . . . it's an amazing feeling," Fontaine said.
"If I see somebody wave to me across the fence, I'll immediately put down my shovel, and I'll go talk to them and say, 'Hey, have you thought about coming to visit us and work in the garden?' We have a lot of neighbors who have found us that way, just walking past," Brown said of her five years already spent in the garden.
She added that one of her proudest moments is when middle school alumni who worked in the garden as students return to get involved years later. "It just makes me feel amazing. Because that, to me, shows that the garden was meaningful to them . . . to me, that's a huge win."
Although volunteers say the Thomas Jefferson Middle School community garden is a wonderful place to start, they also hope to inspire other local gardeners to consider using their talents to help give to those who are food insecure.
"Anyone can garden, anyone can compost. There are amazing resources online and around. So do it . . . Make gardening cool, so that everyone wants to come garden!" shared Leonberger.
Those interested in participating can learn more by visiting the garden's website.