EVERETT — First-grader Grant Brewer thrives on doing the “derde werk.”
The 7-year-old at Olivia Park Elementary recently was asked to write a paper about his favorite childhood experience.
Grant chose the time he has spent in a new community garden taking shape at this school. A 140-by-180-foot square enclosure of thick weeds, thorny briars and stubborn Scotch broom once dominated the landscape that served as a hideout for illegal drug users.
In his paper, Grant described planting raspberries. He wrote in part that they did more “derde werk” or “dirty work”: “It started to rain but that didit stop me.”
Grant was back at the garden Saturday working alongside classmates, alumni and adults.
“I like helping with stuff and I knew it would be a fun experience,” he said afterward.
School leaders and volunteers behind the garden project hope Grant’s enjoyment will be shared by all students. The goal is to expose them to applied sciences while making them feel as if they are playing.
It has been a major undertaking so far.
One volunteer, John Hunkele, cleared out the blackberry vines — 19,000 pounds worth — with a machete.
Beneath the brambles were several apple and pear trees that had been planted a dozen years ago.
Zsofia Pasztor, an arborist, horticulturist and owner of Innovative Landscape Technologies, pruned the long-neglected trees. Pasztor has a deep-seated interest in the school. Her four children have attended the south Everett campus that is part of the Mukilteo School District.
“We are so lucky to have her,” said Mary Kate Olson, an Olivia Park teacher who is helping with the project.
Pasztor, a part-time instructor at Edmonds Community College, brings knowledge, experience, creativity and connections to the campaign. Her youngest child is a third-grader at Olivia Park. One of her sons is working with other members of a Mariner High School environmental club to build a “rain garden” of plants to absorb runoff at Olivia Park.
Many people are stepping forward to help or donate to the community garden. A greenhouse has been given to the effort as well as a handmade mosaic paver compass. In the works is a weather vane in the shape of a polar bear, the school mascot.
The garden will include a mix of short- and long-term crops, including potatoes, corn, squash, cucumbers, beets and carrots as well as currants, huckleberries, nuts, figs, strawberries and raspberries.
Eventually, there will be fig trees, which will offer another lesson. The plan is to create an insectary — a collection of noninvasive wildflowers to attract good bugs — to circle the fig trees.
School librarian Susan Hanson said the garden has children scurrying to the nonfiction section.
“They usually go after the books about animals, but now they are really into the plants as well,” she said.
Principal Edie Reclusado said children talk about the garden every day in the cafeteria. During lunch the other day, fourth-graders recently calculated the total area for planting assuming each classroom gets its own planting bed.
“I think there is really ownership by the students, not just the grown-ups,” Reclusado said.
Some day, if it can be cleared through district channels, the students will get to eat the fruits and vegetables they are growing.
Olivia Park is a school where 65 percent of students qualify for a free or subsidized lunch based on family income and more than a third of students are immigrants learning English.
Olson said the garden is bringing the school and community closer together.
“It has been a joy to watch the students and staff get inspired by all the efforts of our parents and community,” she said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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