Specialty Crop

The Henry A. Coffeen Garden at the Coffeen Elementary School includes four raised beds, four terraced gardens, and a 50-ft-long Hügelkultur, the latter of which was constructed in 2023 by students, school staff, volunteers, and Rooted in Wyoming personnel.

Pronounced hoo-gul-culture, the Hügelkultur is an approximate 3-ft tall mound consisting of a log and branches at the bottom, then a layer of leaves and grass clippings, followed by another layer of topsoil and compost, and a top layer of wood mulch to help protect the mound from erosion. Vegetable and ground-cover seeds are then planted.

“We’re planning to put a viewing window at one end so students and others can observe how the decomposition progresses,” said the former garden coordinator Beth Music. “We’re trying to do everything we can to teach kids about the benefits of working in the outdoors, getting their hands in the soil, all the different places where their food can come from, and making healthy food choices.”

One of the terraced gardens is devoted to vegetables; another is for melons, squash, and pumpkins; a third is planted in native grasses; and a fourth is a native pollinator garden. Flowers and annual vegetables are planted in the raised beds. Students, including those participating in the after-school program, tend the gardens and help prepare foods for healthy snacks, utilizing a Charlie Cart, a small, portable, self-contained kitchen.

“We now have students who go home and help prepare healthy meals instead of going to boxed foods,” Music said. “It’s really fun to hear them come back to class and tell us how they are eating better and exercising. And it’s fun to hear their questions like ‘Guess what we planted in our home garden today?’”