Kindergarten, Middle School and Iowa State students at Gifft Hill School have been busy the past couple of weeks maintaining its patio in the height of production: fighting aphids; tossing peppers; spraying mildew; stringing tomatoes; fertilizing everything; and experimenting with irrigation as part of the school’s EARTH program.
“The plants are thriving and we are adding more seeds each week,” said program coordinator Kris Bennett. “Nothing has been more satisfying than digging into our fine garden treats. We have created tasting platters each week and sampled the raw foods as they emerge from the garden.”
The school has also blended dozens of fresh smoothies by freezing its bananas and mixing them with mangos and pineapple juice.
“We are saving our ripening tomatoes and peppers for a Spanish fiesta next week and hope to be able to make our first batch of garden salsa,” said Bennett.
The group thanked the middle school staff for really stretching the garden program into the entire curriculum and to everyone for complimenting the work that has already been done this semester.