Our New School Garden

This fall, PS/IS 209 students from grades 1-4 in our SOAR afterschool program rolled up their sleeves and got to work to create something special, our very own school garden!

Over the course of 3 weeks, our young gardeners constructed 5 raised garden beds, sturdy supports for winter coverings, and a garden arch to support some of our climbing plants. With determination, teamwork, and lots of buckets full of soil, our students moved more than 8,000 pounds of dirt, provided by NYC OER's Clean Soil Bank, from the play yard to the other side of the school to fill the new garden beds. Each week, students continue to take care of the space by raking leaves and keeping the garden clean to feel pride and ownership of their work. To make the space welcoming for the neighborhood, we hung solar LED lights that illuminate the garden each evening, creating a warm glow for everyone who passes by during seasons when the days are short and the nights come early.

The new garden will soon be home to a colorful variety of herbs, vegetables, fruits, and flowers, giving students a chance to explore different types of plants and the climates they grow in. The SOAR gardening team has already planted hundreds of perennial flower seeds, 30 hyacinth bulbs, and a fig tree in the front flower bed. One of the students' favorite installations of the garden is “Barone’s Berry Bed,” which will be a delicious destination that includes 20 strawberry plants, 2 blueberry bushes, a raspberry bush and a blackberry plant that will grow up and over the arch. Students also planted dozens of kale, bok choy, and mâche seeds in the lettuce bed that will mature over the Winter, perfect for learning about cold weather crops.

When Spring arrives, our garden will quickly come to life. Students will plant tomatoes, peppers, herbs, eggplants, and other plants and vegetables, along with a pumpkin and corn patch that will be ready for harvest next Fall. This year's Spring gardening season will kick off with a Family Gardening Day, where families can join students in planting and celebrating the garden’s first Spring. More information will be shared in the Spring through a flyer and email announcement.

Through this wonderful new gardening space that has been funded by the Office of Community Schools and The Leadership Program, our students at PS/IS 209 will continue to learn about teamwork, responsibility, patience, planning, hard work and the joy of nurturing living things. The garden is already blossoming into a space for learning, creativity, and community and we can’t wait to watch it grow year after year!