This week, Upper School students invited our community to tour their newly cultivated Permaculture Garden (part of the STEAMWork Outdoor Experiential Lab or SOEL)—a sustainable food garden designed, built, and nurtured by students on campus. The continued development and maintenance of the garden is part of our Upper School Permaculture Garden elective (co-created by STEAMWork Design Studio Coordinator Mick Lorusso and Upper School Visual Art Faculty David Prince), as well as the Middle School Soil Unit (an interdisciplinary unit focused on soil and its connection to our ecosystem and society, which is happening this week).

“Students demonstrated their commitment to and knowledge of regenerative practices at a thriving garden site that they built over the course of a school year,” said Lorusso. “I love that at SOEL, students take hands-on agency in solving giant issues like climate, food insecurity, and water depletion.”

At the Open House students showcased the techniques they used within the garden, including “lasagna/sheet mulching” (using layers of cardboard and mulch to create a fertile garden bed), “hugels” (a raised garden bed created with layers of logs, mulch, soil, and compost, designed to retain water and maintain fertile soil), and more.

“By shifting away from water-hungry lawns to more climate-appropriate planting, students have been able to shut off 14 sprinkler heads, saving an estimated 200,000 gallons of water a year, just on this small site!” said Prince.

A “bee hotel,” built by students to attract pollinators and eventually host a bee colony (who have yet to move in!), was prominently displayed. Caithlen P. ’24 explained that creating a supportive environment for insects and wildlife is a crucial part of permaculture, in contrast to traditional farming methods that use toxic pesticides that contaminate food and kill beneficial insects.

Speaking of wildlife—visitors were also able to interact with a few special animal guests from the animal rescue Singer Sanctuary, bunnies Puppy and Ponyboy and a chicken named Faye!

Check out highlights from the open house on our Instagram here (plus, see the transformation from one year ago to now). Click here to view photos.

What is permaculture? Permaculture (a combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture”) is a design approach to ecology and sustainability that involves working with nature to create regenerative and self-sustaining ecosystems. “The three guiding ethics of permaculture,” said Lorusso, “are to care for the Earth, to care for people, and to responsibly use and share resources.” The permaculture garden is part of the STEAMWork Design Studio’s ongoing sustainability initiative and was made possible in part by a foundation donor who supports STEAM at Westridge.