DENAIR GARDEN GROWING

BY KRISTINA HACKER

It started with a vision that Denair High agriculture teacher Holli Jacobsen had for turning a dusty patch of ground into a one-acre garden that could produce enough food to supplement students’ lunches, while playing a hands-on instructional role for classes.

A $20,000 grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture in 2021 got the ball rolling and over the past year progress has been made in getting the garden up and running. Last summer, students built the garden beds. A few tomato plants have been planted, but there is still more work to be done, said Jacobsen. She has 100 variety of seeds in her classroom ready to be planted when the garden is ready.

The upcoming school year will see more students taking an active role in the garden as a new Career Technical Education pathway was created that includes a biology – soil science – farm to fork course.

“I’m hoping to be to the point that all our garden beds are full with produce and be able to produce throughout the year,” said Jacobsen.

She’d also like to see an eventual pumpkin patch be planted for Denair FFA to use for fundraisers.

In the meantime, Jacobsen has hosted open community volunteer hours at the garden from 8 a.m. to noon throughout the summer. For more information about the garden or how to help, contact Jacobsen at 209-595-9175 or hjacobsen@dusd.k12.ca.us.

Photos contributed

Denair High received a CDFA Farm to Fork grant in 2021 to create a community garden. The next to the community garden is the Denair High farm, which includes two sustainability pigs. The pigs eat dehydrated scraps of food leftover from school lunches and the garden uses the pigs’ feces for compost. The Denair High farm has eight breeding goats, whose offspring are available for students to purchase as livestock animals for the county fair, and farm dog named Jake who keeps them safe from predators.

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