John Dewey High school has been working with an organization called the New York Restoration Project that focuses on preserving green spaces in New York City. In early November of 2023 the garden was set up near the football field at the back of the school with the help of NYRP. The organization would come every once in a while to share information about plants and help plant and harvest them. Since then there have been many updates about how much the garden has grown as well as future ideas that are coming soon!
This past week on Tuesday Genevieve Harding from NYRP came by and taught the gardening club how to harvest ginger and helped them pack cover crop seeds like oats, peas, and oilseed radishes for the upcoming winter season. Ethnobotany students and members of the gardening club are usually the people who help tend the garden. They would plant daffodil seeds, water the garden, and take care of the composting tumblers.
Besides the change happening in the garden some of the members like the president of the gardening club have also changed with it. “It has improved my socializing…and it has definitely made me more of an outside person” senior Richard Aranda said. Aranda laughed as he recalled building one of the tumblers in freezing cold temperatures when helping out with the garden.
With the limited space of the area, Poison Ivy can be seen surrounding one of the gates, causing students to carefully not touch. Aranda expressed wanting to remove the plant from space.
Speaking about future ideas and expectations about the garden, Harding said ”I would love to see this garden be…the cultural hub where everyone comes and plants something that’s really special to them that’s really meaningful for their family and they get to come and harvest it and enjoy it.”
Mr. Moody, the advisor/teacher for both the gardening club and ethnobotany class shared his ideas for the garden, stating how they would like to have a special guest to help grow a big squash where he and the guest teaches on how to grow it.
With the school having a garden on campus ground. It gives the opportunity of providing produce to the school staff. When being harvested, the plants would be measured and placed in bags. Being sold at a low price ($1 per bag of fresh herbs) for staff to buy.
The funds collected would go back towards the garden to improve its conditions. Not only that, once in a while students are able to come together at the end by creating their own treats with the produce such as sauces, tea, and lemonade. It is evident that gardening club members work extremely hard in successfully maintaining the school’s garden.
