Gardening Moms in Albany Plant Inspiration in Schools

Penny Barthel and Amy St. George have been known to some as "garden fairies." The nickname goes back to 2000, when they planted flowers, weeded grass and picked up garbage at Marin Elementary School, which their children attended at the time. 

The two met at the garden in August to reflect on how the lush space they created has turned out.

"They've done a fantastic job at Marin," said St. George. "Back then, we did not have money to support our project."

For 10 years, Barthel and St. George have been bringing what they call "renaissance" to Albany's school gardens by . Earlier school gardens did exist, but Barthel and St. George said they had hardly been taken care of.

Before their efforts, the space "looked like blight, partly because of bad landscaping," said Barthel. Together, they decided to do something about it.

The moms started "Wednesday gardening" sessions, where parents volunteer to weed, plant flowers and pick up garbage at school from 8 to 10 a.m. Their first project was to create a butterfly garden. Since then, flowers have grown tall, bushes are being pruned, and bins of garbage are being emptied at every school their children attend.

Barthel and St. George met when their kids started school at Marin in 2000. It did not take long to realize their common love for gardening. They both grew up surrounded by nature. St. George's father worked for the U.S. National Forest Service, and Barthel's dad was a law enforcement officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We wanted our kids to know we care about them by doing something positive at the schools," said Barthel, 45, whose children, Lucy and Calvin, attend Albany High School.

"And we wanted all the children to be proud of the schools they go to," said St. George, 52, whose children, Zoe and Cassie, are also at Albany High.

Their projects soon became more ambitious. The mothers decided to try to engage students by making a clearer connection between the curriculum and the garden. At Marin, fourth and fifth graders learn about Native Americans. Barthel and St. George decided to plant crops known as the Three Sisters: beans, squash and maize, the three main agricultural crops of some Native Americans groups in North America.

"Amy and Penny never gave up even when I thought the project was too ambitious," said Donna Isler, who helped with gardening when her children, Miriam and Joe, were at Marin.

"I also liked the sense of camaraderie, and seeing our kids get more beautiful gardens," said the 15-year Albany resident.

Barthel and St. George are humble about their achievements. They said their gardening was made possible with donations from Annie's Annuals and Perennials, a nursery in Richmond, because the school district or PTA had little money to fund their projects.

"What they do is bringing a positive and beneficial effect to the students," said Claire Woods, the donation coordinator at Annie's.

"We want to encourage young people to learn about garden," said Woods, who has worked at Annie's for five years.

Their gardening crusade continued when their children moved up to Albany Middle School. There, Barthel was caught by surprise.

"My daughter got lost in the 6-feet-tall tumbleweed," said Barthel, whose daughter Lucy is a sophomore at Albany High.

So they started all over again.

Some were skeptical about their gardening crusade.

"Whenever we brought up our project, we were told that the students were just going to stomp on the flowers," said St. George. And some children did exactly what they were warned about. The bushes were stomped and the flowers were picked. But St. George and Barthel replanted them again and again.

"It's the broken glass theory," said Barthel. "If kids see the garden is dirty, they think it's okay to throw garbage. But if we keep it beautiful, they will come to appreciate it."

Teachers appreciate their efforts.

"They brought campus beautification," said Robin Davis, the principle at Albany Middle School.

"They are the first parents to engage in school gardening at the current location of Albany Middle School, and they were exceptionally tenacious," said Davis, who has been the principle at Albany Middle School for six years.

Now the focus of their projects is at Albany High. During the summer, when school was out, Barthel and St. George took some time off from gardening. But they still paid attention. 

Barthel, for example, called the police when she and St. George spotted a shopping cart dumped at Albany High, damaging flowers.

"Two steps forward and one step back," said St. George, looking at an empty lot at Albany High that's rife with weeds and garbage. "Gardening is not static. It requires constant maintenance."

Their next plan is to give Clell Hoffman, the executive chef for Albany schools, a garden where he can grow lemons right behind the kitchen. But what about after their children graduate from high school?

"I don't know. Get more grants for school gardens? We have to think about it," said St. George.