As you may already know, South Pointe Elementary school has been reaping the benefits (no pun intended!) of our very own Organic Edible and Smoothie Garden! The mission of the gardens is to foster invaluable lessons about growing healthy fruits and vegetables and about cultivating respect for the environment to our children.
Last year, under the dedicated leadership and green thumb of SPE parent, Catherine Prescott, and troops of students, administrators, teachers and parents; we achieved the following:
1. Added a new Butterfly Garden using Florida Native, drought-tolerant plants and flowering vines (donated by Silver Palm Nursery and designed by Morel Landscape).
2. Planted a Carambola tree (star fruit) at the southern edge of the garden in memory of Mr. Philips' father (feel free to put this earlier in the list).
3. With the Wellness Committee led by SPE Phys-Ed teacher, Coach Gary Bond, offered food tastings for all students showcasing in-season fruit and produce.
4. Hosted FREE Healthy Eating Workshops for the SPE community with Once Upon a Carrot founder Cindy Hill.
5. Added colorful stepping stones throughout the garden painted by the After School Care Garden Club led by SPE parents, Miss Jacqui and Annhy Shim.
6. Harvested bell peppers, spinach, lettuce and herbs which were all used in the food tastings.
7. Hosted the Annual Green Market which raised over $3000 in funds to buy mulch, soil, seeds, supplies for the garden.
8. Hosted Family Friday, where families and kids came out after school to help weed, mulch and harvest the gardens. Organic cookie treats were donated by Ginnybakes. Getting dirty never tasted so good!
9. Raised over $200 for the garden, by selling Peace Lily plants during the holidays. This year, we hope to do this again and double the sales! Peace Lily plants are rated as one of the top indoor air cleaning plants and are perfect for shady areas in your home or office! Read this article from the New York Times and learn more- then make sure to stock up this December! No pressure... :)
9. Raised over $200 for the garden, by selling Peace Lily plants during the holidays. This year, we hope to do this again and double the sales! Peace Lily plants are rated as one of the top indoor air cleaning plants and are perfect for shady areas in your home or office! Read this article from the New York Times and learn more- then make sure to stock up this December! No pressure... :)
This year, we welcome in the skills of SPE parents Eve Scheinblum and Jessica Burns who will be growing the gardens to the next level and keeping their hands dirty! We also have the generous help of Roger Horne of UrbanGreenWorks and Native Splendor in Miami. His efforts and expertise are incredibly valuable and his tireless work in the community is absolutely inspiring.
So- we now welcome YOU to join us and help us accomplish fantastic green-minded things this year!
Our first meeting will be held on Friday September 21 at 8:40am in the SPE Media Center.
Please feel free to send an email to Jessica at spegarden@gmail.com!
Subject: Garden.
Hope to see you in the garden this year!!
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