Grown From Inspiration

A keyhole garden.

A woman of inspiration, Jo Fendrych, a physical education teacher from Mustang, Oklahoma. Obviously, the majority of what teachers in this area do is to get students moving and to teach them how to keep active beyond the classroom. But besides her teaching career, this woman of action also enjoys gardening.

Combining her career with her passion, Ms. Fendrych started A PLACE TO GROW, INC (APTG). The end result of her organization is building gardens for schools, low-income people, seniors, and people who have disabilities. She explained, "If students could experience the joy of planting and growing their own food, this knowledge could help improve their quality of life now and as they grow older. Although one school I worked at had a huge garden with irrigation and a greenhouse it took lots of money, manpower, and many months to establish and this is not feasible for most of the inner city schools. For a year I kept thinking what would be the best way to introduce gardening to schools."


Eventually, Jan was able to come up with a concept that made sense and didn't require a boatload of money. Simple construction was also a feature. To incorporate those features, she came up with the idea of making keyhole gardens. You need a container filled with soil, cardboard, phone books, leaves, and wood, then put the seeds planted on top. Then, you place a compost bucket in the middle of the garden, so that each time you water it, its nutrients are released into the growing area. She said, about this concept, "The gardens are designed to use 1/3 less water, easier to take care of because they are raised off the ground and incorporate recycling and composting."

Some children at an elementary school with their garden.

At its start in 2014, APTG had installed four gardens and there were plans to add another one at a local elementary school. Since this beginning, the organization has formed a partnership with the Oklahoma City School District, and is actively contacting low-income housing groups and senior centers for those interested in receiving a garden.

Another type of design for the keyhole garden.

Thanks for information from this article on Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/jo-fendrych-a-place-to-grow-inc/; this article on APTG: http://aplacetogrow.co/aboutus.html; and the above link.

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