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Schools

East Windsor Students Nurture School Garden

New things are growing at Ethel McKnight Elementary School.

Good things are sprouting at , where students are tending an organic garden that they have planted with vegetables, flowers and herbs.

The garden, which students named the “Mustang Garden," is enclosed in a school courtyard and features 13 planting beds that are filled with herbs, flowers and vegetables. A mama duck also laid her eggs in the garden, so it's been the home of a cute family of ducks as well.

The garden got its start through a series of grants secured for the school by teachers Jennifer Carroll and Stephanie Flynn. The school has won a $3,000 grant from the New Jersey Agricultural Society and a Plants for Pollinators Grant from the Mercer County Soil Conservation District. Through Plant for Pollinators, the school has been given a plant stand with grow lamps for starting seedlings and will be provided with plants that attract pollinators like bees, hummingbirds and butterflies.

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The garden, which includes benches and picnic tables, is quite an improvement to the school. “The area was never used and it was just a grass courtyard,” Carroll said.

“I like the garden,” said Alex Levinson, a fifth-grade student. “It has lots of flowers and plants.”

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Earlier in the school year, students throughout the school planted vegetable plant plugs and cold crops like broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale. The school had a kickoff planting session in early spring, when students and parents came out to prepare the beds for vegetables, herbs (like dill, cilantro and chives), “salsa” (with tomatoes, peppers and onions) and flowers and to get the garden started. Among the other crops planted are peas, radishes, turnips, strawberries, lettuce, spinach, squash, collard greens and cauliflower.

“I liked planting the peas on Saint Patrick’s Day,” said Colby DiComo, a fourth-grade student.

“We planted strawberries, and we saw the ducklings and our potato plant has grown,” said second-grader A.J. Delgado.

Students have been coming to work on the garden during class and recess periods, Carroll said. They have decorated stones and signs for the garden and have also learned about the garden in science, writing and math classes. “Some of the kids in our class made signs for the garden so we know what’s been planted,” said Anusha Rangu, a fourth-grade student.

The children have learned to distinguish their plants from weeds by growing sample plants in pots. “That way, we know what the plants look like,” said Cody Doherty, a fourth-grade student.

Students have studied the science behind their plantings by watching potatoes sprout in clear cups, examined the geometry of their planting beds and have written about the garden in writing experiences, Carroll said. She said she hopes to work with the kids in preparing recipes and creating dishes out of the food they grow. For example, they plan to make dips for vegetables using ingredients from the school’s herb garden, she added.

The students have even been able to watch a family of ducklings make their habitat in the garden. “A duck came and made her nest under one of the picnic tables, which has been so awesome,” Carroll said.

When Patch met with the teacher and some of the school's students, however, she mentioned that the school was working on relocating the duck family, perhaps to a nearby pond.

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