UW Extension Educators Help Linford School Garden Grow New Roots

UW Extension Educators Help Linford School Garden Grow New Roots

For the last few years, the garden at Linford Elementary School in Laramie has been dormant. With Laramie’s short growing season that spans the months when school is out of session, it’s been a challenge to keep the garden going.

In 2024, Linford librarian Stefanie Hunt and UW Extension Cent$ible Nutrition Program educator Ruth Lake decided to revive the program.

Sowing new seeds

“I've helped with the garden in the past, and it was kind of in shambles the past couple years,” says Hunt. “So, we wanted to partner with Ruth and Albany County 4-H. They came to me with ideas about adding more garden troughs and getting kids together to help us.”

As a Cent$ible Nutrition Program (CNP) educator, Lake provides nutrition education and facilitates community partnerships to help Wyoming residents achieve food security. “The counselor at Linford is trying to get a food pantry started in the school, and so we wanted to help provide produce for that, that the kids grew themselves,” she explains.

Once the Linford PTO (parent-teacher organization) approved the project, Lake and Albany County 4-H educator Amanda Dougherty jumped in, hosting several seed-starting activities before summer break. They invited both Linford students and Albany County 4-H members.

As part of rehabilitating the garden, new soil donated by Big Hunks Excavation Company was added to the garden beds. Fresh wood chips donated by Lodge Pole Products were laid down throughout the garden area to keep the weeds down. This community support was essential to restarting the garden.

Many Linford students helped with transplanting and garden upkeep during the growing season, coming back week after week to see how their seeds progressed to seedlings and then to plants. “They wanted to be part of their own garden,” says Lake.

In the fall, students formed a garden club and participated in weekly harvests. The produce was donated to Linford’s new food pantry.

When Lake showed up to work in the garden at the end of the school day, the garden club participants were always eager to join her. “I think they feel ownership and pride in the garden,” she says.

A collaborative effort

In addition to Lake and Dougherty, Brenna Litynski, a UW Extension agriculture and natural resources educator in Albany County, joined in to share her expertise.

“I think it's helpful to have multiple perspectives and skill sets on a project like this,” she says. “There were times where our leaves were getting eaten on one of the plants and Ruth sent me a picture…As an agriculture and natural resources educator, I could try and find the reason for that and come up with some kind of solution.”

Lake, Dougherty, and Litynski are all newer members of the Albany County extension office. The Linford Garden project helped bring them together on an effort that’s already making a difference in the community.

“As someone who's super new to the job, this project let me network with the community and learn about the things that are going on in Laramie,” Litynski comments.

“We learned a lot from this first year and will go forward from there,” says Lake. “That's the part that has me excited. This is not just a one-year thing. This is going be an ongoing project.”

Going forward, Hunt hopes more students and teachers will get involved. Even students who aren’t directly involved in the project could benefit from visiting the garden, she says. Whether it’s starting seeds, pulling weeds, or keeping a science notebook, the Linford Garden offers new educational opportunities for Laramie youth.

If the students working in the garden before and after school are any indicator, the new roots at Linford’s garden have been a success. “We got a lot more accomplished this summer than I think we ever have,” Hunt reflects.

“I hope that our excitement and enthusiasm can be realized and other people can grab on to that and want to be a part of this,” Dougherty adds.

To learn more about gardening opportunities for youth in Laramie, contact Lake at rlake4@uwyo.edu or Dougherty at afluegel@uwyo.edu.