The ACS School Garden has expanded this spring with the addition of eight new raised beds, bringing the total to 16 beds, and students in the after-school Garden Club have been busy prepping the beds and planting vegetables.

The Texas-based Whole Kids Foundation provided a $3,000 grant to ACS last fall to expand its garden program, which included adding more planting beds to the school garden.  Garden Club Coordinator Eric Tardif worked with ACS facilities staff, who built the eight new beds in late March. On April 7, a donation of 10 cubic yards of eco-soil arrived from the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, enough to fill all 16 beds in the garden to kick-start the planting season.

“We are very grateful to the ACUA and the Whole Kids Foundation for showing their support for our school garden program,” said Tardif, who is joined by 1st grade teacher Ashley Brossman and 4th grade teacher Rebecca Jackson in overseeing the after-school Garden Club. Twenty-four students in the 1st-5th grades are participating in the Garden Club, which began meeting on Tuesdays starting on April 12 and will meet through June 7.

The students have weeded the eight existing garden beds and filled all the beds with the new soil.  The students have planted a wide variety of vegetables including beets, cucumbers (pickling and lemon), lettuce, summer squash, tomatoes (beefsteak, green zebra, and cherry), and zucchini. The students have also planted cucumbers in 20 large pots lined up along the fence that surrounds the school garden and greenhouse. “We are looking forward to seeing the vines of these cucumbers attach and climb up to cover the fence,” Tardif said.

Tardif said activity in the school garden will continue through the summer with participation by students in the summer Cougar Camp program.  “Our Cougar Camp students will be tending to the garden and picking the vegetables, which will be ready to harvest in 45 to 60 days,” Tardif said. ” We’re also excited about the opportunity to sell our vegetables at the new Community Farmers Market that ACS will be holding on its campus this summer.” Proceeds from the sale of the produce will go to support the ACS garden and greenhouse program.