For the community of Woodside Elementary School, good things come to those who wait. That was the case this past Monday (May 19), when the twice-postponed Garden Open House brought nearly a hundred people of all ages together to appreciate this hidden gem of a green space. After previous dates were washed out by rain, the weather finally cooperated with a pristine, if breezy, mid-spring day perfect for exploring.
Visitors to Woodside, which serves Peekskill’s kindergarteners and first graders, were drawn in by colorful chalk welcome signs. As we approached the garden, clusters of students wearing “Garden Guide” paper crowns flitted from one activity to another, not unlike the pollinators who benefit from this “Magic Garden”: A scavenger hunt kept children busy looking closely at their surroundings; at a bubble station, iridescent bubbles sprouted from flower-shaped wands, and at the log circle, big kids helped little kids navigate the seats that are also used as an outdoor classroom.
Attendees had the option to expand their own home gardens with free vegetables and herbs sown and potted up by Woodside students. Tables at the garden gate offered tomatoes, strawberries, butternut squash, and much more. At another table, students helped “prick out” baby basil seedlings (that is, gently free the basil from its first sowing in a large container of soil to grow individually) to be planted at home. At another table, children could identify different beetles with the help of art teacher Ms. Curras and STEAM teacher Ms. Wetmore. Other students, parents and visitors simply enjoyed the garden, admiring the plots of carrots, strawberries, and garlic filling in, or taking a peek inside the greenhouse whose reconstruction inaugurated the “Magic Garden” in 2019.
The team behind this effort – horticulturist and activist Laura Perkins, educator Melina Cronin, Principal Staci Woodley, and Assistant Principal Cynthia Welker – were also in attendance. “This garden is absolutely the heart of Woodside. It’s a place where community and families can come together organically to just enjoy the fruits of the students’ labor. This is all the kids,” said Principal Woodley.
As participants trickled toward the playground with free new veggies, herbs, and berries in tow, I noticed an older boy showing a little girl the beetle grub he had discovered in his quest to check all the boxes off his scavenger hunt. To share this moment from another time, perhaps a time before screens, was to see a garden’s potential in teaching young people about connection and survival. The Magic Garden at Woodside is a Peekskill treasure well worth visiting.
