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Most of the immigrant students at the Newcomers School have stories to tell about farming in their home countries.

Desire Ngabirano , 15, remembers walking for an hour each way to collect water for his family’s garden at a Tanzanian refugee camp. Mohammed Mohmud , 16, said he spent much of his workday in Somalia throwing rocks at plundering primates.

“All the afternoon, the monkeys and the birds, they eat all the food,” said Mohmud, who immigrated to the United States eight months ago. “I come in the morning, and all the food is finished.”

But in the “world peace gardens” at the Newcomers School, they and other students garden more for relaxation and hands-on learning than daily nourishment. Three staff members at the school started the garden this spring as a way to connect with uprooted families and help their children transition to American lifestyles.

Students in Susanne Martin’s science class examined split seeds under a microscope and experimented with worm composting.

They mourned their personal losses and painted memorials on wooden beams in a memory garden.

“We were trying to think of ways to get them out into the community, away from the TV and the stress,” said Angel Katona , a social worker at the school. “It was amazing the turnaround that I saw in some of the kids who had anger and post-traumatic stress syndrome.”

Community and school-based gardens have sprouted across the city during the past two years as residents find ways to eat healthier, connect with the land and strengthen relationships in their neighborhoods.

Gardens exist in or are planned for the Glenwood neighborhood, Elsewhere artist collective, Peeler Open Elementary School and the Greensboro Children’s Museum.

“It really does seem that several things are coming together now,” said Charlie Headington , a UNCG lecturer behind many of the city’s urban gardening initiatives.

“People are getting tired of industrial food. They’re realizing that gardening is an inexpensive hobby with many benefits for the family.”

Ten years ago, Headington started gardens at private schools Greensboro Montessori and Greensboro Day, which have made permaculture learning their calling cards.

Permaculture is a form of sustainable agriculture that relies on natural renewable systems, rather than machinery and chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

“With public schools, it’s a much harder thing to move funds in this direction,” Headington said. But three or four model gardens could persuade a district to pay for garden supplies on a larger scale, he said.

“It does work better, I have to admit, in a year-round school,” he said.

The Newcomers School, started in 2007 to teach English to immigrant students, converted to a year-round calendar this year. Students returned to the garden last week, providing a break for employees who drove to the school during the summer to pull weeds and water the plants.

The vegetables — like the students — hail from countries around the world and bear fruit of many colors. The school started selling Thai chili peppers, Japanese eggplant, Tanzanian okra, Mexican tomatillos and other produce at the Greensboro farmers’ market this month to raise money for unemployed immigrant parents.

Byeh Fnu , a 17-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, staffed the table on Saturday. He said he wondered at the hordes of Americans chatting at the market and nervously exchanged vegetables for dollars and coins.

“It was amazing for me because in my country I never sell something,” Fnu said. “We have fun.”

Teachers and students plan to start seeds in a greenhouse this fall, build trellises, compost and plant birdhouse gourds to sell at the market.

“This is more than just a garden — it’s a therapy,” Katona said. “This will get bigger and bigger.”

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com