Nathan Hale High School is the only Seattle school with a commercial-size greenhouse and half-acre school garden, known as the Nathan Hale Urban Farm. The farm connects our students with the earth, the food they eat, and the larger community. It gives students direct experience and insight into related careers, including agricultural research, farming, public service, greenhouse/nursery management, business and entrepreneurship, landscape design, and environmental science.
We are working with the students to develop the site to be manageable, self-sustaining and capable of producing healthy plants useful as edibles, herbs, and pollinators, and to contribute to the students' understanding of the inter-connectedness of all elements of the environment. We also work with the students to incorporate sound business practices into their plant sales; to recognize and manage invasive and exotic species; to identify and appreciate native plants; and to understand the necessity of plant/crop rotation and building and maintaining healthy soils.
Components of our site plan include ADA raised beds, a teaching pavilion/outdoor gathering space, a rain water collection and distribution system, hugelkultur beds, tool storage, terracing projects, and composting systems.
We may be working on any of these areas and projects or other projects that day.
We welcome families at this project. Volunteers under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
