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The hub of the garden is the ramada, a yurt-shaped structure covered with kiwi vines. It was
built with the help of students from the University of Montana, using tree poles and branches
pruned from the garden. Inside, bales of hay form the benches where students meet for talks
and planning.
Elsewhere, the garden areas are divided by whimsical fences made of twisted twigs and handwritten signs stuck in the ground. There's a huge composting area, where students regularly tend and turn the compost. Across the field is a traditional horno, a domed adobe outdoor oven where students can bake bread.
A big tool shed is clean as a whistle, holding racks of dozens of mud boots, gloves, and gardening tools. Made of redwood salvaged when a tree fell, the structure uses Japanese joinery and was built as a community effort. "A sort of urban barn raising," says Chapman.
The incoming sixth-graders begin with a 10-week session in the garden. One part of the introduction is to keep a garden journal, sitting quietly in one place, observing and writing. From then on, classes spend 90 minutes a week in the garden or 90 minutes in the kitchen. The work, while often tied closely to their classroom studies, emphasizes experience – getting one's hands in the dirt – over any kind of book learning. The kids learn in a practical way, by planning their own projects. Along the way, of course, they learn math, science, horticulture, and poetry.
The garden is in a constant state of evolution as students think up new ideas – from raising chickens to digging irrigation trenches. This year they'll start constructing a greenhouse to grow seedlings, which will then be passed along to other schools.
One year a river began to run through the garden. It was a class project designed by the
eighth grade, with recirculating water powered by a solar panel. After weeks of hard work digging
the trench, they lined the banks with smooth river rocks and put in a black plastic liner.
Then, on a day of great celebration, they filled the river with water and got their irrigation
project running. In a pond dug at one end, they introduced aquatic plants.
"The garden teaches you to respect things, and it's a whole lot of fun," says one student. "We get to dig holes and get wet, and cook. We eat everything we grow, which is pretty awesome."