ABSTRACT

Just beyond brightly colored welcome signs at the entrance of the Learning Gardens Laboratory (LGL), visitors are greeted with a lengthy and vibrant hedgerow. This hedgerow is a strip of trees and other plants that edges a grassy field and provides habitat for a variety of life. This particular hedgerow is full of maturing persimmon and fig trees, elderberry, gooseberry, currents, lavender, yarrow, sage, and a myriad of other flowers, herbs, and groundcovers. Just five years ago, this hedgerow resembled nothing more than a collection of stick-like plants. Today however, as bees buzz, and volunteers scavenge for a berry snack, this hedgerow is an apt and visual metaphor for the growth of the Learning Gardens Laboratory. Our work here is diverse, multi-layered, textured, complex and challenging. It also attracts all kinds of beneficial participants and produces both food and incredible beauty. As an edge, or a place of increased diversity and creativity, this hedgerow also mimics the many edges of the Learning Gardens Lab: on the edge of several large universities, a diverse neighborhood community and a public school system. The Learning Gardens Lab is unique in that it is built on strong partnerships that provide the foundation of success for this four-acre (1.6 hectare) garden-based education site. Our mission is to support academic achievement, leadership development, and a local sustainable food system by providing garden-based education for public

school students and their families, university students, and community members. Portland State University has partnered with Portland Public Schools, the City of Portland, Oregon State University, and the local community to develop a variety of garden-based educational programs at LGL, which advance the development of sustainable food systems and sustainability education (See Figure 4.1). In this chapter we share the emerging story of the Learning Gardens Laboratory including how it was initially envisioned and brought to life by PSU faculty. We will also discuss the partners and programs that are part of this garden-based education site, some of the values and systems that underlie our transformational work as a living laboratory, and systemic challenges that we have faced at LGL.