Greenhouse teacher Erica Edwards is working with her students to build an outdoor garden to grow many crops for years to come. 

“I find so much joy and peace in gardening,so I wanted to introduce as many students to it as possible,” Edwards said. “There is so much sense of accomplishment to be achieved in growing your own food.”

Although the garden is not quite finished yet, that doesn’t stop students from planting food and flowers. 

“I would say we are 50% through building the garden,” Edwards said. “We ran out of soil so we are at a standstill with planting until more soil is delivered this afternoon. We have many more seedlings to plant.”

Donations were made toward the outdoor garden as well. 

“We would like to thank Clayton Shaw’s parents for donating the soil as well as Zoey Schweigert’s mom for donating some of our raised garden beds,” Edwards said.

The students are also excited for the garden’s progress.

“I’m optimistic about how the plants will turn out and I enjoy working on it,” senior Clayton Shaw said.

The garden will help Edwards teach her students the benefit of gardening.

“The price of owning a home garden is significantly less than making weekly grocery trips,” Edwards said. “Plus, their excess harvest can be shared with friends and family, cutting down on food waste and building a sense of community.” 

The new garden is a way for students to be more interactive and gain something from what they are learning.

“I think gardening is an extremely rewarding process,” Edwards said.