It's a special garden cared for by exceptional students.

For the past year, special education students at Fesler Junior High School in Santa Maria have painstakingly planted, tended and harvested an on-campus vegetable and herb garden.

The garden, which was funded by a state grant, also fulfills another important function of the students' curriculum; the students learn to cook during their “life skills” class with the very herbs and vegetables they grew.

“This teaches the students they can start from scratch ... (take) care of something that they started,” teacher Deby Geiger said.

The garden may also help the students support themselves one day by giving them a marketable skill that could come in handy when they eventually leave the school system.

Geiger and her teaching partner, Karen Bennett, received the $2,500 garden grant from the state a little over a year ago, to their joy and amazement.

“When we found out, we were so excited because of the value (the garden) would bring to the program,” Geiger said. “It was a very exciting moment because, with $2,500, there was a lot we could do.”

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The two educators took the money and set about creating a comprehensive garden that would include some of the most popular vegetables and herbs, such as squash, basil and thyme.

And the students, all seventh-graders with moderate to severe mental handicaps, appear to have wholeheartedly embraced the garden - along with its yield.

“It's great. (The kids) like the vegetables and they'll ask for (them). ‘Zucchini with some dressing?'” Bennett said, laughing, adding that each student has a stake in the garden.

Depending on their abilities, some are responsible for jobs such as raking and weeding, while others are responsible for planting and watering.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, the students and their teachers sat down to enjoy a pre-holiday feast.

The traditional spread consisted of many of the vegetables and herbs the students had recently harvested; Freshly grown squash paired with turkey and potatoes seasoned with a variety of herbs cut from the Fesler garden served as the meal's center piece.

As they ate, the students reminisced about all the toil that went into the garden to make the day's celebration possible.

“It's fun working in the garden ... I like to put the seeds in,” said Israel Hernandez, 12, adding that he also likes weeding and eating the food that grows in the garden.

Ruth Valle, 13, said she enjoys raking the best.

Also, “I like working with all the kids ... I'm thankful for the thyme,” she said.

But perhaps the most important thing the students gain from their time in the garden is an appreciation for the abilities they do have.

“Whatever limitations and abilities, they all have a part,” Bennett said.

December 2, 2008