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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of a small group of Kelseyville Elementary School teachers and parents, the 25-year-old vegetable garden has become a place where more than plants are blossoming.
Students of all ages are spending time in the garden to dig in the dirt, to learn about how plants grow, and sometimes simply to be outside and read in a beautiful setting.
Two years ago, Dina Feliciano and her family were new to the Kelseyville area. Upon arrival, she and her husband immediately began looking for a school for their soon-to-be kindergartener.
When she saw the garden at Kelseyville Elementary School, she knew she’d found the right place.
As a nursing student and a mother, Feliciano is deeply invested in health and wellness, and she feels strongly that kids should not only benefit from good nutrition but should understand where their food comes from.
When she began asking one of the kindergarten teachers, Dorothy Torres, about the garden, Feliciano learned that the garden was surviving almost entirely because of Torres’s and fellow kindergarten teacher Jennifer Libby’s time and attention, and that very few students were taking advantage of this wonderful resource.
The garden was planted 25 years ago and has been tended by Torres and other teachers throughout that time, as well as local volunteer Helen Finch.
However, recently with most of the other teachers having retired, the garden had fallen into disrepair.
When Feliciano asked Torres and Libby if she could raise some money to help whip the garden into shape, both teachers readily agreed.
Feliciano went home that day and started a GoFundMe site, where she quickly raised $1,520 for supplies including brooms, tools, paint for the shed, a new temperature gauge and a battery-operated weed wacker and more.
She also received donations of rocks from the Holt Family, a ladder from Stokes Ladders, stain from Kelseyville Lumber and tree stumps from local residents to build an outdoor classroom.
Feliciano wanted the garden to look presentable by Back-to-School Night to encourage other parents to join in, so Feliciano and her husband, Torres, Libby and a handful of parent volunteers weeded, painted the shed, and hung ribbons in the trees.
Additional parent volunteers included Charlene Boardman, Charlene Wheeler and Natalie Higley, as well as aide Chrystal Noel and her husband.
Many of the plants from past years sprouted volunteers, so the garden had some plants ready to tend. Torres deposited the unspent funds from the GoFundMe site into the KES Parent-Teacher Organization account in a special garden fund and several parents who attended Back-to-School Night either donated to the fund or agreed to get involved in improving the garden.
Currently, most of KES’s 530 students have painted donated rocks to create the outline for an outdoor classroom within the garden.
“Right now we have a teacher stump in the outdoor classroom, which will eventually be replaced with a wooden throne where teachers can read to students or teach them about gardening,” Feliciano said.
The small but growing group of garden volunteers is installing solar lights, sunshades, and reaching out to other elementary schools to learn more about how to enrich students through gardening. Cobb Elementary School has a garden and has been very supportive of KES.
Feliciano said as part of her nursing education she has witnessed the long-term health effects of poor nutrition, including diabetes and obesity. She hopes the garden can help children learn the importance of healthy food early in their lives.
“How can we promote health from day one?” she said. “Gardening helps children learn to nurture and grow their own food, to taste it, to understand time management, how to plant seeds and water them. There are a lot of life lessons here and new experiences for the kids.”
In the short term, Feliciano hopes to increase awareness and foster an environment where parents want to donate or volunteer for the garden project.
“I understand that people may not have extra money, but if every student donated $10, we’d have $5,300! It would be amazing,” she said.
She has completed a wish list registry on Amazon.com with books, a water table, and other supplies, in case people want to donate tangible goods.
Meanwhile, Torres and Libby are working with colleagues to develop age-appropriate curriculums incorporating the garden and Libby has created a schedule so KES teachers can reserve half-hour slots for their classes to visit the garden.
While younger students may play in the dirt and search for treasures such as shells and seeds, older students may plan what to grow in the raised beds and be responsible for planting and watering the seeds.
Feliciano’s long-term goals include growing tomatoes and having a tomato sale to support the garden and the school. She would also like to have the garden serve as a calming place for students if they are having a hard time for whatever reason.
She encourages parents and community members interested in volunteering to visit the Kelseyville Unified School District office to complete the volunteer form. Volunteers must be fingerprinted and get a TB test. Once cleared, volunteers are welcome to join others on the first Saturday of each month at the garden.
“It is so important to remember that one person can make a difference,” said Kelseyville Unified School District Superintendent Dave McQueen. “It’s people like Helen Finch who started our garden from its inception, and Dina who is putting new life to get it going. Dina is reminding all of us what a little passion and hard work can do. The garden’s transformation has just started and it’s already incredible.”
To learn more or get involved in the garden project, email
