Katherine Smith, A Charlotte
Catholic High School Sophomore and Senior Scout from Girl Scout Troop 3112, constructed a vertical garden and raised bed for the students.
Brookstone relocated to First Baptist Church in December of 2014. First Baptist Church has generously provided the school an exceptional facility for their K-8 school, serving 132 students. Their new urban location had much less green space for the students to grow their own fruits and vegetables, which they were accustomed to before their move. Katherine heard about their lack of gardening space, and researched the concept of building a vertical garden. She assembled a team of 17 volunteers to help design and construct a 9 foot wide by 5 ½ foot tall vertical garden. The garden structure only has a depth of 2 ½ feet, which gives the students plenty of gardening space without taking up a lot of playground space. The team also installed a 4 foot by 12 foot raised bed so the students could still grow larger root vegetables, fruits, and flowers, like sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and sunflowers.
The volunteer team built the vertical garden and raised bed on February 28, 2015. Katherine Smith, along with volunteer nutritionist, Elizabeth Stamas, introduced the students to their new garden on March 11, 2015. They planted seeds and seedling vegetables including radishes, beets, kale, collards, potatoes, cabbage, and sugar snap peas. The students were given a nutritional lesson and they will get the opportunity to harvest and consume the produce that they planted in a few months. They will share their extra produce with Friendship Trays, Charlotte’s local Meals on Wheels program. The Brookstone School is part of the Friendship Garden Network, which shares their produce with community members in need.
Eighty-five percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch program, so the majority of the students do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. However, through their previous and new school garden, they will continue to have the opportunity to grow and regularly consume their own fresh produce. Not only will the students be able to share their increased nutritional knowledge with their families, but they are learning to grow their own vegetables, which will benefit them and their families for generations to come.
Katherine hopes this Gold Award Project will inspire others to build their own gardens at home, church, schools, and community centers. Having access to fresh fruits and vegetables and gaining nutritional knowledge can positively affect peoples’ long-term health, and their daily performance in school, work, and other activities. She hopes the vertical garden concept will encourage others to grow and harvest their own fresh produce, even if they have limited gardening space.
Thank you, Katherine!!