While Boulder kids returned to school this week, all those who attend Creekside Elementary returned not only to their books, but to their glorious garden.

All grade levels and most of the faculty at Creekside have been mending a community garden as part of the Garden to the Table Project, and this year marks their third year of harvesting.

It all began when Bryce Brown, envisioner of Longmont-based nonprofit Our Love of Children, came to Karen Daly, Creekside's principal, and pitched the idea to her.

"I was all for it when he told me about this great idea, but there was no way I was going to pull this off myself. I told him this would have to be a community effort - one where parents, people from the community and teachers on staff would all have to get involved," Daly said. "And it couldn't have been a one-time thing. It was going to have to be kept up and sustained."

And that's exactly what became of it. Rich Pecoraro and Shanan Olson, owners of Boulder-based Abbondanza Organic Seeds and Produce, immediately got involved in providing the seeds and tools necessary to grow a glorious garden. They've been helping keep the garden sustainable - educating and involving the kids all along.

In addition to dedicated help from the community, David Hoyt, who has a first- and fourth-grader at Creekside, and Jenny Stein, who has a third-grader at the school, have been the most dedicated parents since the beginning.

Stein wrote the initial proposal that Brown and Daly presented to Dr. George Garcia, who was superintendent at the time. As a result, Dr. Garcia and Dr. King approved the plan last April.

"Since it's been approved, we've incorporated it into the lunchroom program - where the kids can eat from a fresh salad bar," Daly said.

"It's a great way to teach children about nutrition and where food comes from. Not only do they learn how to grow food, but they are able to incorporate healthy eating into their lunch meals at school," Brown said.

According to Daly, everyone at Creekside is involved with the garden in some aspect. The first-graders participate in a worm study, second-graders are in charge of watering, third-graders plant, fourth-graders harvest and fifth-graders help prepare the food to be eaten from their very own salad bar in the lunchroom. If things pan out like last year, perhaps the fourth-grade class will write, produce, direct and film their own mini-documentary on the garden like last year's class did.

On Aug. 23, Mary Strine's third-grade class was in charge of planting the school's fifth harvest. The kids - who were so focused on perfectly burying the seeds - were split into two teams: spinach-planting and lettuce-planting. As days and weeks progress from this point on, the students and faculty will help cultivate and follow the garden's progress and plan for the future as well.

"We are planning on turning this outdoor area into an eco-classroom," Hoyt said. "The layout is ready to go and although it's an evolving project, we've already built a corner stage where teaching can take place as well. This is only the beginning."