Sister Terri Ali & Sister Tazar Gissentanner | Firdous Community Farm

Sister Terri Ali & Sister Tazar Gissentanner

Firdous Community Garden at Mohammed Schools of Atlanta

Southeast Atlanta, Fulton County
While maintaining a school garden is no easy task, the Firdous Community Farm at Mohammed Schools of Atlanta is paving the way and setting a powerful example for schools everywhere on how to cultivate food, community, and hands-on learning for the next generation. Firdous is a USDA-registered, certified naturally grown farm that goes beyond a typical school garden, featuring two garden areas and two orchards—one planted through the Food Well Alliance Orchard Project. “We've been a farm at a school for a while, but we kept the word ‘community’ in our name because we are a community farm,” said Sister Terri Ali, farmer and garden teacher at the school for the last 10 years. It serves as not only a place for students but also a place for their families and the surrounding community to grow food and learn together. 

Agriculture education is integrated into all areas of the school’s curriculum through the science classes. Weekly garden classes are mandatory education. Third graders learn about the importance of pollinators like butterflies. Fourth graders study how composting transforms food scraps into rich soil. Fifth and sixth graders become beekeepers. “We call it our Ag Program,” explained Sister Tazar Gissentanner, the middle school science teacher. “As part of our science curriculum, the students have a certain amount of time with Sister Terri every week, and she instructs them in different aspects of gardening or farming.”

Some of the food produced is used in the Farm to Cafeteria program. The school's chef prepares healthy meals using the fresh produce, and the kids get to participate at every stage, from planting and weeding to harvesting and preparing the food.  Nothing goes to waste. Sister Tazar explained that with the farm produce, “we feed our students, our teachers, and we have enough to share with a neighborhood food pantry.”

This year, the Firdous Community Farm received a $25,000 Farm Forward Grant, allowing them to extend their harvest through various food preservation methods. They learned to can, freeze, dry, and preserve summer produce. They also offered the classes to the community – six sessions that were well attended. Each participant prepared one preserved food item to take home and one to stock the  school pantry. “The grant allowed us to hire Tazar to organize the classes,” said Sister Terri. “Because it's terrible to grow all this food in the summer months while school is out and let it rot on the vine or let the birds eat it all.” 

The garden stays open 365 days a year, which means they need support to maintain the farm over the summer, so the farm can continue to produce and be ready to go once school starts again. They have a volunteer garden group that comes to help, and with the grant they were able to hire two additional people who love the garden and its produce. “We appreciate everything Food Well is doing to support urban growers,” said Sister Terri. “This grant has pushed us over the top, adding to our technology and labor support and teaching valuable lessons on food preservation.”