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CHARLOTTE — About 100 students from St. Patrick School and Brookstone School in Charlotte spent Sept. 13 working together to harvest and prepare dishes from their own garden and learning about healthy eating choices from a local chef.

The schools built a close partnership funded through a Front Porch Grant, in which they worked together to design and plant flower beds and six raised beds of fruits and vegetables in a community garden located at Brookstone Schools. The garden project is coordinated by Kathleen Smith.

Students from both schools worked side by side on several occasions to cultivate their flowers and vegetables and further learned about seeds, soil, composting and the components of growing a vegetable garden. They learned to work as a team and taking responsibility for sustaining the garden. While working together, the students developed lasting friendships with children from different economic, racial and religious backgrounds.

The Sept. 13 "farm to fork" experience was the culmination of their project. Chef Marc Jacksina and owner Karen Teed from Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth restaurant led the project. Students worked with the Halcyon team to plan and prepare dishes with vegetables harvested from the garden, and learned about food freshness and seasonality. They also gained an understanding of how food is delivered from farms to their family tables.

Front Porch Grants awarded by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation support the creation of small-scale gatherings that build relationships by exchanging ideas, experiences or actions. The project was also made possible by donations from The Scotts Miracle Gro Company, Lowe's Home Improvement, The Home Depot, Flower Girl Designs and Bru Time Landscaping.

— Photo provided by Denise Reis and Kathleen Smith