By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

LOVELAND, Ohio — On any day of the week, Loveland-Madeira Road in Hamilton County is abuzz with traffic. No true visible signs of agriculture are on this road, but look a bit closer, and one may hear the sound of children laughing as they tend to plant boxes.
Say hello to Granny’s Garden School on the grounds of Loveland Primary and Elementary schools.

“This idea grew from my own garden,” said Roberta Paolo (known to all as Granny). “I was the Granny Nanny to my two grandchildren. They were four or five years old when I moved to a little bungalow just down the road from the schools. In my efforts to create a nurturing environment for them, I created a special place that attracted both adults and children.

“The rule in my garden then, as it is today, was that flowers were for picking. Whenever a child went by, they were invited to select any flower they wanted and I would pick it for them.”

Today, 1,400 students in grades K-4 learn what it’s like to have a green thumb. “My gardens grew along with my grandchildren, and I began to offer free workshops for parents and kids,” Paolo said. “I was amazed at the effect that flowers had on people.

“I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew I wanted to give more kids the opportunity to pick flowers.”

In the fall of 2001, Paolo was picking her grandchildren up from the nearby primary school and spotted a woman planting mums in the schoolyard. “A light went on in my head,” she said. “I saw some possibilities here.”

That woman was the school librarian, Nancy Garfinkel, who was tired of the barren look surrounding the school grounds. After being introduced to the principals of the elementary and primary schools and the grounds manager, Paolo approached the school board with the idea of growing flowers for the sole purpose of letting the schoolchildren pick them.

Paolo’s dream turned into a reality and the next spring, the children began digging a garden bed and planting donated perennials. The nonprofit Granny’s Garden School was born.
To this day there are 50 10-by-20-feet class gardens that are used to teach across the curriculum.

Students use part of each school day to plant, weed, learn and eventually harvest. Between June and August, Granny’s Garden School invites visitors to join its “Pick-a-Bouquet” club where, with a donation, members can pick 24 fresh stems a week while supporting this cause.

“The impact of our programs reach beyond what is going on in the class,” Paolo said. “We have changed the entire environment of the school grounds. We were responsible for 10 Eagle Scout projects that have created learning centers, and a nature trail that can be used by members of the community as well as the students.”
Granny’s gardens have attracted representatives from more than 25 schools, from as far north as Cleveland and as far south as Louisville, Ky.

“We have a volunteer board of directors (which is) in charge of developing a structure that will continue to support the organization in the future when I am no longer around,” Paolo added.

This farm news was published in the April 23, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.