Second Graders Grow Food, Community at Buffalo School Garden

For two years, first- and second-graders at Buffalo Public School #30 have planted, tended, and harvested their own community garden—turning a city lot into a classroom without walls.

From Seed Lists to Raised Beds

Each February, students draft a wish list of vegetables and flowers. With teacher Mike Hann, they start seeds indoors and nurture seedlings until transplant time. This year, the Urban Roots Education Committee secured a Grassroots Gardens grant to build five raised beds using materials from Buffalo ReUse. The beds now hold peppers, onions, tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, and lettuce, plus two flower beds of annuals and perennials.

Hands-On Learning All Season

Weekly garden visits teach planting, staking, weeding, and watering—made extra fun by a rain barrel that captures a neighbor’s roof runoff. Over summer, high-school students in a school-to-work program kept the garden thriving. Come fall, elementary students returned for multiple harvest days, tasting and taking home produce to share with their families.

A Model Worth Replicating

Urban Roots is eager to continue the partnership with BPS #30 and help other schools launch similar projects. Interested educators can email workshops@urbanroots.org or call 716-362-8982.