Garden Club Update for 2015: The Harrington Park
Garden Club Update for 2015: The Harrington Park Home and School Association sponsors the Harrington Park School Garden Club and budgets $1,500 annually for garden upkeep and teacher stipends. Teachers Ms. Howell and Ms. Denbeaux have been coadvisors of the club since 2009. The Garden Club emphasizes gardening skills using the school courtyard garden and also focuses on environmental education (including lessons on composting, recycling, sustainability, water resources and conservation). The students cook with vegetables and fruits grown in the school garden and also have lessons in healthful eating habits, as well as participating in other special activities.
The Garden Club has been a great way to foster student involvement in the school garden. On the average, about 13 students attended each meeting. Students from 1st – 7th grade participated, and the 6th and 7th graders continue to have leadership roles in the group. There are 18 active Garden Club members in the spring of 2015. The number of participants varies depending on the season and the club is always actively recruiting for new members.
For the 2014-15 school year, Garden Club meetings were held regularly on Wednesday and Friday mornings before school and on Mondays at lunchtime. Typically morning meetings started at 7:45am and went until 8:30 am. Two separate lunch meetings were held on Mondays to accommodate different student lunch times and each lasted 45 minutes. Most spring and fall meetings involved active work in the garden; many winter meetings focused on gardening skills, composting, recycling and environmental education.
During fall meetings the students maintained the spring and summer plantings, and harvested produce, enjoying enjoyed raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beans, onions and garlic. Fall cleanup of the beds was conducted as harvesting season came to an end. Bi-weekly meetings were held over the winter to learn more about gardening and composting and winter indoor gardening of potatoes took place in the classroom.
During spring meetings the students pruned and spaced the pear and apple trees and planted and harvested vegetables and fruits. In the spring of 2015 the Garden Club enlarged the garden from ten to eleven raised beds. Additionally, the students planted beds with peas, lettuce, carrots and spinach. Onions, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, strawberries, raspberries and more will be harvested in late spring and summer. The Garden Club meets year round and interested students will also meet twice a week for longer periods during the summer. One of the targeted projects for the summer is the planning and planting of a pumpkin patch. In addition to the regular members of the school club, Kourtney Mendello, a Harrington Park Girl Scout, made the courtyard garden the focus of her Girl Scout Gold Project throughout the school year. She built cold frames to extend growing season activities, put up a new storage shed, and purchased additional tools for use by Garden Club members. Since the creation of the courtyard garden, community members have been involved in some of the planting and in the periodic ongoing improvements of the courtyard space. At the annual school curriculum fair the doors to the courtyard were open and parents and other visitors were encouraged to walk the courtyard, walk in the garden and participate in plot planting with students. The Club advisors explained the Garden Club curriculum and activities to visitors throughout the curriculum fair. (photos taken in summer 2014)
The Garden Club has been a great way to foster student involvement in the school garden. On the average, about 13 students attended each meeting. Students from 1st – 7th grade participated, and the 6th and 7th graders continue to have leadership roles in the group. There are 18 active Garden Club members in the spring of 2015. The number of participants varies depending on the season and the club is always actively recruiting for new members.
For the 2014-15 school year, Garden Club meetings were held regularly on Wednesday and Friday mornings before school and on Mondays at lunchtime. Typically morning meetings started at 7:45am and went until 8:30 am. Two separate lunch meetings were held on Mondays to accommodate different student lunch times and each lasted 45 minutes. Most spring and fall meetings involved active work in the garden; many winter meetings focused on gardening skills, composting, recycling and environmental education.
During fall meetings the students maintained the spring and summer plantings, and harvested produce, enjoying enjoyed raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beans, onions and garlic. Fall cleanup of the beds was conducted as harvesting season came to an end. Bi-weekly meetings were held over the winter to learn more about gardening and composting and winter indoor gardening of potatoes took place in the classroom.
During spring meetings the students pruned and spaced the pear and apple trees and planted and harvested vegetables and fruits. In the spring of 2015 the Garden Club enlarged the garden from ten to eleven raised beds. Additionally, the students planted beds with peas, lettuce, carrots and spinach. Onions, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, strawberries, raspberries and more will be harvested in late spring and summer. The Garden Club meets year round and interested students will also meet twice a week for longer periods during the summer. One of the targeted projects for the summer is the planning and planting of a pumpkin patch. In addition to the regular members of the school club, Kourtney Mendello, a Harrington Park Girl Scout, made the courtyard garden the focus of her Girl Scout Gold Project throughout the school year. She built cold frames to extend growing season activities, put up a new storage shed, and purchased additional tools for use by Garden Club members. Since the creation of the courtyard garden, community members have been involved in some of the planting and in the periodic ongoing improvements of the courtyard space. At the annual school curriculum fair the doors to the courtyard were open and parents and other visitors were encouraged to walk the courtyard, walk in the garden and participate in plot planting with students. The Club advisors explained the Garden Club curriculum and activities to visitors throughout the curriculum fair. (photos taken in summer 2014)
