Urban students watching their garden grow

Ford School students stand ready for planting instructions. (Mark Wilson/Globe Staff)

LYNN - Joey Rosario hopes to watch his "skiddishes" grow, grow, grow in the new International Children's Garden at the Ford School.

"I planted, um, a lot of seeds," proclaimed the 9-year-old third-grader, who lives across the street from his school. "I think they're called, like, 'skiddishes.' "

Grown-ups call them radishes.

But kid talk rules at the new children's garden. Ford, a pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade school, is the first in the state to receive funding to build a vegetable garden on pavement, according to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The garden - built on three raised soil beds - is a lesson in urban agriculture. Peas, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes are taking root.

So are basil seeds first planted in outer space. Ford - designated a NASA Explorer School - received the seeds from the space agency after astronaut Barbara Morgan returned to earth with them last year. Bok choy, yucca, and other vegetables from the homelands of immigrant students also will be planted.

Ford kids will tend and pick crops planted in the 1,500-square-foot garden, which should have its first harvest in the fall. They plan to set up their own farmers' market, to learn how to run a business.

"We hope this becomes a model for other urban schools," said principal Claire Crane, eyeing small, green peppers already growing. "We don't have any grass around here. It's important for them to know how food is grown."

They'll also learn about farming, nutrition, green space, and water conservation.

Already they've used math to figure out how many plants can fit in a plot. Summer school kids learned about photosynthesis by keeping a watchful eye on the first plants.

The organic garden also could boost a blighted Lynn neighborhood. The Highlands, a densely populated area off Western Avenue, is scarred by foreclosure, gang activity, and the recent killing of a mother of four young children. But Crane said the garden already has cultivated a new sense of pride. "It's brought the neighborhood together," she said. "We should be doing more of this."

The Highlands Coalition, a neighborhood group, dreamed up the garden. The group last year used state grant money to plant 46 trees on shadeless city streets. "Once we finished that, we wanted to keep going," said David Gass, the coalition president. "We thought a garden would be a good idea."

About $10,000 in money and materials was donated to the garden project. Wood, stones, and mulch, came from as far as a lumber yard in Portsmouth, N.H., to as close as a front yard a block from the school. A $5,000 grant from the local workforce investment board paid for four teenagers to work on the garden this summer. About 20 volunteers, including plumbing students at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, worked on the project. Tech students designed an irrigation system that will eventually rely on recycled rainwater.

"It worked," said Jonathan Dowgos, 16, a junior at Lynn Tech. "Things are already starting to grow."

The garden also aims to teach youngsters about healthy living. At Ford, about 92 percent of its 766 students come from families whose income is below the federal poverty level. Many families can't afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and a lack of nutrition is a concern, Crane said.

"Obesity is an issue at our school," said Crane, the school principal for 18 years. "We're hoping with an organic garden, they'll learn how food is grown. They'll become healthy eaters."

The coalition now is looking for donations to add a trellis, and a greenhouse covering to turn it into a year-round garden.

Some Ford kids already are proud of the fruits of their labor. "I learned many things, like how to dig a hole," said Dorothy Ezemba, 8, a third-grader. "I know how the plants grow."

"It's a really good idea to have a garden," said Ryan Murray, 9. "In case we have no food at school, we can just get some from the garden."