Lincoln Garden
Lincoln Garden, located at Lincoln Elementary School in South Corvallis, is a gathering place for children and families to learn the connection between a healthy environment and a healthy lifestyle while growing, preparing, and enjoying fresh produce. During the school day, Lincoln Garden is an outdoor classroom for Lincoln Elementary students. Healthy Youth Program garden educators provide garden-based activities connected to state standards that enrich curricula. After school, Lincoln Elementary students participate in Lincoln Garden Club, where they explore the joy of gardening and taste its rewards. Volunteers from OSU, Lincoln parents, and the community help to maintain Lincoln Garden through monthly work parties (Tend, Mend, and Mingle/Cultivamos y Charlamos en el Jardín), and during the summer the garden is cared for through our High School Summer Internship program. Visit the sections below to learn more about Lincoln Garden!
Nutritional information for fruits and vegetables grown at Lincoln Garden can be found here: Garden Signs.
Classroom Connections
Classroom Connections at Lincoln Garden aims to:
- Integrate garden learning into the classroom curriculum
- Increase place-based learning experiences related to classroom curriculum
- Increase student’s connection and relationship to nature
- Increase student’s knowledge of where their food comes from
- Provide new food experiences to students and encourage them to taste fresh produce
- Teach children about the importance of making healthy food choices
Kid Friendly Gardening Tip: Kids like veggies that they can eat raw. Plant colorful, fun varieties like cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, mini-bell peppers, easter egg radishes and dinosaur kale!
Kid Quote: "I've never liked this but now that I eat it straight from the ground, it's so good!" --Lily Blue
Volunteering at Lincoln Garden
NEW: Monthly Garden Work Parties at Lincoln Garden!
Tend, Mend & Mingle: Lincoln Elementary
8am-10am in the Lincoln School Garden on the 1st Thursday of the month
No Work Parties Dec/Jan
Coffee & Bagels provided!
The Healthy Youth Program invites you to join us once a month for Tend Mend & Mingle in two of our school gardens. These events are a chance to gather to work on garden-related projects, and build community through hands-on/minds-on service learning projects.
All are welcome!
How to Volunteer:
1. Check in as a visitor at the school office
2. Meet our Garden Manager, Aliesje at the school garden
3. Enjoy light garden work, snacks and coffee!
Contact [email protected] or visit our website for more information.
Other volunteer opportunities are available at Lincoln Garden for:
- Parents of Lincoln Elementary School students
- OSU student groups
- High school students
- Corvallis Community members
Please contact us for more information: [email protected]
Our Garden Story
The Lincoln Garden, located in the heart of the South Corvallis community, is one of the longest-lived school gardens in the Corvallis area. It was established more than 15 years ago! Nestled between Lincoln Elementary School and the soccer fields, this garden has a rich and varied history of care and use.
Many community members and organizations have tended the garden alongside Lincoln students over the years. Some of these include Corvallis Environmental Center’s Edible Corvallis Initiative, former Corvallis Parks and Recreation AmeriCorps service member, Ronjon Datta, and South Corvallis resident, Cheryl Good. Cheryl originally began a Lincoln Garden webpage and more details on the earlier garden can be found there.
In September 2012, the Healthy Youth Program took on the role of managing the Lincoln Garden, and it was utilized mainly for after school programming with the Lincoln Lion’s Den.
In the spring of 2013, in collaboration with Lincoln administrators, the Healthy Youth Program was awarded a generous grant from Spirit Mountain Foundation to reinvigorate this South Corvallis gem. In keeping with Cheryl’s original intent to provide a garden space for both children and the greater community, we set out to not only double the garden’s growing capacity, but also to increase and diversify its use.
Our vision is for the Lincoln Garden to become a highly valued community resource where students and their families come together to grow, harvest and enjoy healthy, freshly harvested produce. We are well on our way thanks to the help of many community volunteers! Interested in helping? Please visit our volunteer page.