Students in the new after-school Gardening Club planted basil, eggplant, tomatoes and other vegetables in the school garden last week that will soon take root and bear a bountiful crop in the late summer and early fall. Students in the 3rd-6th grades, guided by advisors Dave and Priscilla Garner, have been meeting on Friday afternoons since April to prepare six raised beds for planting, including weeding and adding new soil. Pictured at left are Isabell Alford, Hannah D’Aulerio, Aine Dorsey, Vanessa Lanier, Dylan Reilly, and club advisors Mr. and Mrs. Garner.

Children in the Cougar Camp program will be tending to the garden during the summer and produce harvested will be donated to the Community FoodBank of  New Jersey. Students will have the opportunity to participate again in the after-school Gardening Club in the fall, when additional vegetables will be planted. Produce from the garden will also be used next fall by students in the middle school and high school cooking classes. The school garden was established in 2015 with a grant from the AtlantiCare Healthy Schools program.