Middle school students get their hands dirty with gardening grant | Home & Garden

 

South Middle School’s after school program, Bulldog Boulevard, recently received the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant in the amount of $2,345.00. The grant was received for a greenhouse/outdoor garden project.

The grant included materials to build a greenhouse, a concrete mixer to pour the foundation, and a tiller to break ground for a garden. Students will use the greenhouse to grow plants, make observations on plant growth, and experiment with different ratios of fertilizers to see which makes plants grow best.

Students will plant two or three different types of beans or peas and then see which plant produces the greatest yield in the same soil conditions. They will develop the knowledge of when to plant various garden plants, study the life cycle of plants, move plants from the greenhouse to the garden, tend the garden, protect it from various insects and plant diseases, and finally, they’ll harvest the vegetables from the garden.

The goal is for students to recognize the importance of raising fresh vegetables that have high nutritional values than those on the grocery store shelves. “We also wanted students to explore jobs that are available in the gardening/farming market such as farmer, agricultural agent, fertilizer agent, seed supplier and many more,” said Ed Fruehwald, teacher and program sponsor at South Middle School.