The U School is a competency-based high school in Philadelphia designed to change the outcomes for youth in college and careers by challenging them to create high-quality projects while giving them ownership over learning. The U School used their mission to challenge students by partnering with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to build and create a People's Garden within the community. The USDA NRCS People’s Garden Initiative connects gardens across the country that produce local food, practice sustainability, and bring people together. People’s Gardens can take many different forms; they can include food-producing gardens, wildlife habitat, conservation or beautification projects, and educational spaces.

NRCS and the U School began the project by creating a plan to increase edible growing spaces and add a micro meadow on the existing asphalt parking lot, working in partnership with the neighboring community. The micro-meadow is essential as it provides nutrient management and fresh, chemical-free, and highly nutritious crops. It also gives students an opportunity to grow and manage field crops on a smaller scale. The biggest challenge that they faced was identifying a contractor that would be willing and able to work on The School District of Philadelphia property. U School’s team project leader, Anna Herman, met with several contractors until Think Green came into focus.

Think Green was referred to the school and Anna Herman confirmed their willingness to collaborate with staff and the student team for installation of the People’s Garden project. Think Green spent several class periods working with the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) students and staff to envision the People’s Garden space and created multiple iterations of possible plans and budget allocations to implement the project.
The AFNR program at the U School was able to double the size of the growing space in the school parking lot with support of the People’s Garden Grant. Over 500 pounds of food have been harvested and shared with students, school families, and school neighbors since planting in late May. A existing weekly food share program has been enhanced by fresh greens, tomatoes, herbs, and hot peppers.

Students in their summer workforce program were able to create two “three sisters” gardens, practice irrigation techniques and utilize integrated pest management, crop rotation and seasonal garden care. Students arrived back to school for a full end-of-summer harvest to pick, process, preserve, and distribute. They shared their excitement about the program and the progresses that they made in the summer. One student named Laniyah exclaimed, “I didn’t know there were so many colors of potatoes!” Anna Herman talks about what is still to come regarding their seasonal garden care, “We are about to harvest dried beans, popcorn, winter squash, and more to begin fall food preparation lessons and continue our thrice weekly food shares” Jupree, another student at U School, asks the million-dollar question of “How did lemon verbena get so sweet?” and “Can we have herb tea every day?”

USDA NRCS focused on four essential factors through the grant which were to:
• Provide technical assistance to plan and design the People’s Garden.
• Participate in public relations events to highlight conservation technical assistance and programs.
• Financially support the installation of the garden beds and overall project needs.
• Provide the garden with an official USDA People’s Garden sign to display.

U School reached significant milestones while collaborating with NRCS. They removed asphalt, and a border of coir logs were placed around the area to create two large new planting areas. They also installed soil/compost material and finished the site to a state that was ready for planting. One bed was divided with wood chip paths and mounded garden beds to use as a seasonal edible food farm. This has been planted with summer crops and has been mulched with a layer of compost and salt hay. The second bed was planted with 500 native plant plugs, provided by the Xerxes Society, and mulched with salt hay. This bed will also include annual and perennial herbs for pollinators and be used by students for educational and value-added projects. A third garden bed was formed with left over coir logs and extra soil on an area of the yard that was not de-paved. This adds extra garden space, which is currently planted in sunflowers and calendula, but will be designated as a strawberry patch in next year’s growing plan. The U School has a temporary People’s Garden signage placed on these beds, while awaiting a more permanent sign.

One of the next steps for the school is working with several high school students as part of their FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience to start a garden club for neighborhood children. U School’s AFNR students will grow their environmental educator skills, and neighborhood children will start to feel connected to the garden. The hope is to help build a culture of garden stewardship through regular opportunities to help harvest, plant, and cook together in the new garden spaces. The U School has seen many exciting changes and as the People’s Garden continues to grow, the students' leadership and creativity will grow alongside.

For more information on the U school and their mission, visit https://uschool.philasd.org/ and for more about the USDA NRCS People’s Garden Initiative, visit https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden.