TJ and the Hebrew Education Alliance combine their resources to produce a community garden.
Photo by Ed Gloor
TJ Teacher and Green Club Sponsor Kerry Black and the Green Club have teamed up with TJ’s neighbor the Hebrew Education Alliance to build a community garden. “The main reason for the community garden is to be able to work with the community and have a partnership, and also to teach students to learn about gardening,” said Black.
Major preparations for the garden are already underway. “The plants will be ready and hopefully be big enough to sell by mid-May,” said Black, with her fingers crossed. Black says that one of their main concerns is that they need volunteers from the TJ community to come and help, especially in the summer to water the plants when everyone is out of school on vacation. They could also use donations of old or new shovels, gloves, and other gardening tools, she says.
Black believes that the community garden will be very successful once they get started on things. The group has planted a salsa garden with little pots containing things like cilantro, onions, peppers, basil and many other vegetables. They will let the vegetables start producing then put them in TJ’s green house, so they can be ready to sell to the TJ community. “We will grow them to a good size and then sell them and see how many of our plants are successful,” said Black.
TJ will be helping plant flowers and vegetables in one bed that is ten feet by five feet that is located at the Hebrew Education Alliance, and the water will also be supplied by the Hebrew Education Alliance. They will be planting other nutritious vegetables like lettuce, peas, spinach, onions, radishes, as well as a variety of flowers. “I’m excited to work with the Hebrew Education Alliance community; it’s a positive way to get staff, students, and community to work and learn together,” said Black.
May Farms is also collaborating with TJ to coordinate a pumpkin fundraiser. By May 1st farm needs to know how many pumpkins TJ plans on selling. In the fall around October, May Farms will deliver the pumpkins. The pumpkins recommended cost would be between $8 and $10 dollars. May farms will give half of the proceeds to TJ. All the fundraising from the pumpkins and the plant sales will go to the Green Club, helping to fix up the green house and buy more supplies for next year.
“I think it is wonder that our communities are coming together, and a community garden will be a visible sign of our collaboration,” said TJ Principal Sandra Just.
