an official website of the County of Union

JVJ STEM Academy

Elizabeth

Garlic Planting

Students harvesting veggies, pulling weeds, and planting garlic.

JVJ STEM Academy students remove weeds from the school's raised garden beds
A JVJ student rolls up their sleeves as they remove weeds from the garden beds
Students clearing weeds from the raised garden beds
JVJ students dig through the raised garden beds
Two JVJ Students proudly display their harvested eggplants and green peppers in a plastic bag
freshly picked eggplants and green peppers spread out on a table

JVJ STEM Academy

Elizabeth

Updates

Images of garden growth and progress at JVJ Stem Academy.

JVJ STEM Academy students and faculty planting a young tree.
JVJ STEM Academy faculty member actively planting a young tree
JVJ STEM Academy student posing beside a newly planted tree.
Photo of several basil plants contained in small pots
Male student holding a small basil plant in his hand
Female student holding a young basil plant in her hand
Photo with students sitting in chairs in a classroom. One student is facing and smiling towards the camera as he holds his basil plant.
Photo of freshly harvested green bell peppers and egg plants in plastic storage bags
Image of freshly harvested vibrant green peppers and egg plants in zip lock bags
close-up image of two green bell peppers and one skinny eggplant on top of a desk.

Neighborhood House Association School

Plainfield

Bees in the Fall

During the fall, the students had the opportunity to observe bees as they continued to visit the flowers. They watched the bees moving from flower to flower and explored the wonderful scent of lavender by smelling the flowers.

Three Neighborhood House Association School students standing in front of the school's raised garden beds
Close-up image of lavender plants in the garden. Bees can be seen on some of the lavender flowers.
Close-up image of lavender plants in the garden. Bees can be seen on some of the lavender flowers.
Close-up image of lavender plants in the garden. Bees can be seen on some of the lavender flowers.
3 students look down at the bees flying on top of the lavender plant

This hands-on experience allowed children to connect with nature, use their senses, and learn about the important role bees play in our environment.

3 students look down at the bees flying on top of the lavender plant
3 students look down at the bees flying on top of the lavender plant
Students look down at the bees flying on top of the lavender plant

Morris Union Jointure Commission – Developmental Learning Center

New Providence

Golden leaves, crisp fall air, and big discoveries! 🍂🍎

Autumn has arrived in our school garden! As the leaves turn vibrant shades of gold, our students are gaining hands-on lessons in seasonal cycles.

A student and a teacher are standing in front of a young tree with sparse yellow autumn leaves.

Battle Hill Elementary School

Union

Preparing for the “Pumpkin Patch”!

Students in the 3rd grade at Battle Hill School weeded the garden in preparation of the annual pumpkin patch event. The students enjoyed learning about how to take care of the garden, and how to weed the beds. They worked together collaboratively and enjoyed every minute!

Photo of students cleaning up the yard and garden bed
Image of three students kneeling on the ground as they clear the weeds out of a garden bed. One young student is smiling and facing the camera
A group of Battle Hill Elementary students clearing the weeds out of the garden bed
Four students working together, weeding the garden bed
Another image of a group of students clearing the weeds out of a garden bed at Battle Hill Elementary
Image of students working together, under a clear blue sky, to remove weeds at the Battle Hill Elementary Garden

School No. 4

Linden

Fall Flowers

As we reminisce on the beauty of our summertime flowers, and enjoy the last few blooms, we are working to collect and dry the seeds for next year!

Photo of a student removing seeds from a dried sunflower head resting on their lap.
Image of a hand holding a freshly cut bouquet of pink, magenta and red zinnia flowers in the outdoors.
Image of a hand holding a dried sunflower head with some of the seeds removed

School No. 4

Linden

Fall Figs & Tomatoes

Back to school has brought us back to the garden, and we have been enjoying a plethora of figs and tomatoes!

Photo of School No' 4's fig tree plant
student plucking a fig from the fig tree
Photo of students' hands with palms facing up. Some students are holding figs
Student holding freshly picked teardrop cherry tomatoes

Hanson Park Conservancy

Cranford

Eggplants and Peppers

Photos of eggplants and peppers in the ADA-raised planter.

Photo of flourishing eggplants at Hanson Park Conservancy's garden
Close-up image of eggplant in Hanson Park Conservancy's garden bed

Clark Preschool Program

Clark

The Harvest!

A photo of tomatoes.
A photo of a child with tomatoes.

We have been learning so much by harvesting our tomatoes!

Abraham Lincoln School No. 14

Elizabeth

From June to Sept!

A photo of the garden.
A photo of students in the garden.
A photo of students in the garden.
A photo of students in the garden.

Our Kindergarten students really had a great time planting various seeds in all of our beds. OUr outter beds had flowers and our two inner beds had tomatoes and cucumbers that the community was able to enjoy!

During the summer, Mrs. Castanheira was told various community members came and took from our garden. (At first our custodians were a little nervous, but with encouragement, they learned it was ok!)
We also tried planting pumpkins and squash.. but the squirrels got to them before we did!

The students even enjoyed having an afternoon snack in our garden!

Our last year kindergarteners, who are now 1st graders, will be taking a quick field trip into our garden before the new kindergartners get to weed it out!

Here is our OVERLY grown garden.. now it’s time to learn how to weed and see what happens.. We are excited to learn, grow, and study where food comes from..