The Garden Program at PS 295

n June of 2007, PS 295 was selected as one of 20 schools in NYC to participate in the Garden to School Café Pilot Project. A collaboration of NYC Department of Education, SchoolFood; NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets; Cornell Cooperative Extension; GreenThumb; Added Value; and more than 20 community-based organizations, the goal of this project is to incorporate student-grown food into the school menu.

For the past three years, small groups of P.S. 295 students have planted and tended seeds in the school’s plot at 6/15 Green (the community garden at 6th Avenue and 15th Street) and the new PS 295 GreenThumb school garden on Prospect Avenue. In the fall, they continue to garden, but also plan for Harvest Day, where the vegetables they grew are featured on the lunch menu in our cafeteria. In addition, Harvest Day provides an opportunity for them to share what they’ve learned with the wider school community.

The Courtyard Garden

With funding from Slow Food USA, parents built ten 4 x 8 foot container gardens in the courtyard of the school in June of 2010. These planters were designed by a parent and a local landscape architect. Students helped plant flowers, herbs, and vegetables, and parents, teachers and students tended the gardens over the hot summer. In the fall, there was a bumper crop of tomatoes, strawberries, basil and other vegetables and herbs.

Next spring, not only will students be growing vegetables, they will be cooking them (again, thanks to the support of Slow Food USA which provided the funds to purchase kitchen supplies). And this time, it won't be small groups of students gardening -- instead, all PS 295 students will be discovering the joys of growing (and eating) their own food!