Roosevelt High School Urban Farm: Growing Kids and Community

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By CANDACE MILLER LOPEZ

Standard Ericsson Neighborhood Association (SENA) and Roosevelt High School (RHS) have come together to design, build and install a 5,000-square-foot urban farm on the school’s campus.

Phase one, 2,500 square feet, was completed in September 2019 with the help of students in the Urban Farming, Culinary Arts and Service Learning classes, alongside neighborhood volunteers, generous donors and the expert guidance of professional landscapers and teachers.

This beautiful and soon-to-be bountiful outdoor learning space is unique in the Minneapolis District.

It is not just about growing tomatoes and making tomato sauce. Students engage in exploration of sustainable/regenerative farming practices; Indigenous and historical foods and planting traditions; food justice and food systems from farm to table. It is viewed as not just a creative elective option, but a viable technical training program providing students with diverse experiences and pathways to secondary education and career development.

Phase two of the garden, which will be designed by students over the winter and installed next spring, will include a large passive solar greenhouse to expand the growing season and provide a means for water collection and storage onsite.

The phase one garden is a foraging space, filled with berry and nut bushes, perennial fruits and vegetables, and a Three Sisters Garden for growing corn, squash and beans, that invites visitors to wander around and try different things. The phase two garden will focus more on growing crops that can be used by the Culinary Arts students and shared with the community.

The garden team are currently running a fundraising campaign for phase two. You can make a donation at: https://donate.seedmoney.org/3773/roosevelt-urban-farm.

Volunteers interested in joining the Friends of the RHS Urban Farm to help maintain the garden over the summer months can contact Candace Miller Lopez at SENA: candace@standish-ericsson.org.

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