Gardeners' World

I have often driven past Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland and wondered about the large garden plot near the roadside.  Today I noticed a sign saying the garden was open to the public, so the Boy and I (out on an errand together) pulled in to take a look.

It's an organic community garden, tended largely by kids from the school - they volunteer throughout the summer vacation.  We wandered in, and immediately a student appeared to show us round: the garlic patch here, the chard there, the produce stall over there... A row of sunflowers "just because they're pretty".  Further off in the garden a couple more students were busy weeding.

Profits from the sale of vegetables help sustain the scheme, but much of the produce is grown for donation to the local food bank.  I bought some zucchini (courgettes). If I'd wanted chard they'd have cut it for me right there - can't say fresher than that!  I plan on coming back in a couple of weeks when garlic, tomatoes and potatoes should be ripe and ready for harvest.  I'll also visit the butterfly sanctuary elsewhere in the school - kids help run that, too.

Well you know me - I love a worthy project, and this one really appealed to me: environmentally sound, educational (with added fresh-air-and-exercise), purposeful and community-minded.  I was pretty excited by it all.  But, sad to say, the veg-avoiding Boy's only comment on my new-found Shangri-La was "Can we go now?"