Union
Garden Closing 2025 Season
Great day closing up for winter. Cooperative weather and lots of participation.
Category: gardens
New Providence
Apple Tree
Students went outside to see the progress of the apple tree that they planted in the spring from Union County. Students talked to Hunter, DLC comfort dog, about the apple tree and what type of apples will be growing on the tree.
Elizabeth
Fall Harvest at JFS
The fall has brought a new beauty to our community garden at JFS! It has been wonderful to see all of the produce that we have been able the harvest recently and give back to the community through our food pantry. We have grown perfectly crisp apples, crunchy cucumbers and juicy tomatoes, just to name a few! Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who put so much time and dedication into our garden!
Plainfield
October Garden Pictures
Wow! It’s amazing the garden is still producing vegetables in October. The children are so excited about it.
Elizabeth
September Garden Updates
September has brought new energy to our garden as we welcome many new students to our school! We’ve loved seeing students and teachers visiting the garden for the first time, eager to explore and learn about the plants growing there. This month, teachers and students will take turns caring for the garden, sharing responsibilities to nurture and maintain our growing plants. The teamwork and enthusiasm have been wonderful to witness!
Our garden continues to flourish with more tomatoes and eggplants ripening on the vines. We’re excited to watch this season’s harvest grow and to involve our new students in the hands-on experience of gardening.
New Providence
DLC Climate Resilient Garden
Our students are doing an amazing job maintaining the climate-resilient garden! They’ve been working hard, watering the plants and picking weeds to keep it thriving. The thyme smells incredible—it’s a little reminder of all their efforts.
Late Summer Surprises!
Look what we found! Purple eggplant, beautiful zinnias and our tomatillo plant is ready to harvest. Salsa anyone?!?!?!
Linden
Summer Gardening
Our students attending summertime programs at School No. 4 did a wonderful job of caring for the garden! We have seen zinnia flowers, strawberries, beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and more!
Plainfield
September Garden Photos
In September, the children are still enjoying the gardens.
Roselle
More Flowers?
So, I’ve been thinking about the garden, wondering how effective it is for us to grow vegetables. I think we were hoping to share and enjoy the fruits of the garden, but the reality of the school schedule means that we are always gone for harvest time. I’m sure there was some amazing pink popcorn, Jersey Tomatoes, and fresh okra, but we weren’t here to eat it! I can see many of those vegetables that lived their lives, turned to seed, and fell to the ground, never being savored, pickled, or canned. That’s a shame.
We’ve started to wonder if maybe, we should be growing flowers?
More frequent harvests, more product, and the obvious tie-ins with gift giving and note writing to Moms are some of the benefits. Faster harvest times might give students easier ways to link work with results. I need to research harvest times and try to find plants that give flowers during the school year, but it might be a great direction to go in. Wish us luck!
