The Thomas A. Edison High School Garden is now the first FCPS school garden accepted into the People’s Garden Initiative!

The People’s Garden Initiative was started by the USDA in 2009 and was named in honor of Abraham Lincoln, who created the USDA and called it the “People’s Department”. The People’s Garden celebrates gardening and educates the public, underscoring Lincoln’s inclusive scope for USDA to include “…useful information on subjects connected with agriculture in the most general and comprehensive sense of the word.” 

For a garden to be included in the People’s Garden Initiative the garden must use sustainable practices that benefit people and wildlife and teach about gardening and resilient, local food systems. The Thomas A Edison High School Garden meets these criteria through its use by the Global STEM Challenges Program, the Sam Clemens Farm 4-H Club, and Environmental Science classes.