Edible Orchards Planted At 2 Bartow County Schools

From Bartow Schools: Kingston Elementary School brings new meaning to the old adage, “Put your money where your mouth is.” School administrators are using their hard-earned grant money to rejuvenate their 20-year-old outdoor classroom.

Tucked away in the woods next to the school, you will now find blueberries, pawpaws, persimmons, and figs! In the warmer spring months, you will gradually see even more exciting educational opportunities with the implementation of vegetable and pollinator gardens, worm farms, and bluebird houses complete with a camera!

Armed with shovels and mulch, teachers, volunteers, Master Gardeners and the Bartow County Extension Coordinator planted ten blueberry bushes, six pawpaw trees, five persimmon trees and two fig trees at KES.

South Central Middle School is also following suit and planting a new edible orchard this month to replace the one that was destroyed by construction crews. These two school gardens will join other orchards at Georgia Highlands College, Allatoona Resource Center, and Hickory Log Home for Men. Each orchard, sponsored by Keep Bartow Beautiful and Bartow County Extension, is funded through a state grant, which includes a three-year maintenance plan.

In just a few short weeks, the vegetable garden, worm farm, and pollinator garden will take shape at KES. The bluebird houses and camera will be set up in the near future after an addition to their outdoor building is complete. These unique teaching tools were recently purchased with money awarded through the Bartow Education Foundation’s Teacher Grant Program.

School administrators are eager to provide children an engaging opportunity to develop their own non-fiction writing skills based on bluebird observations. According to KES Principal Philena Johnson, “Students will also create graphs, collect and analyze data, and submit data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch and Feeder Watch programs. These real-world applications are priceless.”

Worm farms will soon open students’ eyes to the complexities of small ecosystems. Lesson plans will highlight the importance of organic decomposition, the soil food web, and the relationship between earthworms and ecological sustainability.

Ready, Set, Grow is another school-wide initiative where an outdoor garden is planted and the roots, as well as lessons, run deep for many years. The garden will teach students how to grow plants from seeds, identify plant parts, group plants into various categories, observe plant survival in different habitats, and discuss plants as producers in the food chain.

Not only can educators integrate math, science, and literacy skills to achieve the Georgia Standards of Excellence, students can also try healthy foods. It’s a win-win for the Nutrition Services Department because an increased number of school gardens can boost the district’s chances of being recognized next year on the platinum level from Georgia Departments of Agriculture,
Education and Public Health, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and Georgia Organics.

Images Courtesy of Bartow Schools