Members of the Garden Club of Ellijay are happy to be digging in the dirt again, while providing educational activities for students at the newly relocated North Georgia Christian Academy.
The local gardeners previously led a junior garden club for more than 15 years at the previous location of NGCA, which moved from Harold Pritchett Road to the new Victory Christian Center on Maddox Drive earlier this year.
“In 2010, I asked the school if we could use their shrubbery beds to plant bulbs with the kids. We put bulbs in every year and we were so glad just to have somewhere to plant,” noted June Harrison, garden club member and leader of the junior program.
‘A work in progress’
The first classes to attend school at the Victory Christian Center are also the first to participate in the expanded junior gardening program, which mainly includes third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students, as well as some later grades.
“We meet every month. We used to do a little more crafty stuff with the kids because we didn’t have a garden, but now we can do more actual gardening. Now we are also able to teach them how to grow fresh vegetables. The garden club is so lucky to have this opportunity to work with the school and design this garden, which is a work in progress,” Harrison said.
The approaching winter did not deter the club and its junior contingent from planting a hardy vegetable garden, the first club activity to commence at the new school a few months back.
“Our initial plan was to do two raised bed gardens. Once we incorporate the seventh and eighth graders again, we (may do more). I’m open to working with as many grades as (NGCA) thinks we should,” said Harrison.
Some of the greens have already been harvested from the raised beds, she added.
“We planted red mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard and strawberries. We are still producing cool season vegetables, which should continue for a while. The vegetable garden has already survived a groundhog attack, but we were able to make a meal out of (what has been grown),” Harrison said.
“We’ll be picking it back up in the spring. If we can get something planted in the cooler time of the spring, we may do that, too.”
Mary Pierce, NGCA administrator, and fourth-grade teacher Erica Williams both lauded the practicality and hands-on learning provided by the junior gardener classes.
“It’s a gift to Gilmer County to have such an active garden club. I can’t brag on those ladies enough. They’re so knowledgeable. They give so much time and energy to that program and are so enthusiastic about what they do,” Pierce said. “I wish that we would spend more time learning these kinds of things because I feel like it’s an art that might die out in years to come if people don’t learn about it.”
“My class has been a part of the program for the past seven years and they are always excited to see Mrs. June and her helpers. I love that they have the opportunity to experience things we learn in the classroom in a hands-on learning environment. Some students may never get to experience gardening other than through the garden club, so I’m thankful they have that opportunity,” said Williams.
Harrison noted that the smaller class sizes and flexible curriculum at the private school are advantages, but she would also love to see the junior gardener program one day incorporated into public schools.
“The big component is showing the kids how to grow their own food,” she said.
The garden club currently has around 43 members, several of whom take turns participating in the educational activities.
“You have to have a team and your club agrees on a budget. You have to have money, resources and the people who are able to do it. We’re not all teachers, but we do have a few retired teachers on our team,” said Harrison.
Butterfly trail, bird sanctuary ongoing projects
Recent digging and planting of a pollinator trail at the NGCA garden site has been done in preparation for the path to be accepted as a section of the Rosalyn Carter Butterfly Trail.
“The pollinator trail, which is a walkway, is already half planted. The seventh- and eighth-grade students planted it. I’m thrilled that we can (now) extend the garden club to other grades,” Harrison said.
Per the Carter trail’s webpage, the butterfly trail program named for the former American First Lady begins in Carter’s Georgia home of Plains. It connects gardens across the U.S., Canada and Japan, which provide habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
“We plan to finish the trail when the weather gets warmer (next spring). We also plan to have drip irrigation for the pollinator trail in by the summertime,” Harrison said.
“We’ve planted things like butterfly weed and one of our members, Becky Spears, volunteered a lot of butterfly-friendly plants from her yard including several coneflowers, which are fabulous pollinator plants. There’s a paw-paw tree in there that Ashley Hoppers, our new county extension agent, donated to the trail. She has also been a big help in getting both the garden and trail started.”
A bird sanctuary is also on the drawing board for the NGCA garden.
“It will be a sanctuary for all birds and we will have a class on that (in 2020). There will be houses for different kinds of birds. The students will go out to the garden and monitor the bird sanctuary. The birdhouses will go up in January and we will teach the first class in February after the kids have (returned from break),” Harrison explained.
“Our goal is to eventually be accepted into the Atlanta Audubon Society by 2021. They require you to have all kinds of grasses and shrubs for birds to hide in. They come out and inspect (the site), then tell you whether you passed or not,” she added.
Pierce said an FFA chapter has been formed at the school and its members will be active in the junior garden.
“We want for whatever is done at this garden not to be wasted. We started the FFA this year and it’s something we will get more involved in. The students will pick up the horticulture part of this and help maintain the things the garden club has planted,” she added.
“If we coordinate the (FFA and junior gardener) programs, we can make sure things get watered and planted when they’re supposed to, as well as putting out food for the butterfly garden. The garden club, which is made up of volunteers, wants to know that this garden will be sustainable. It’s our goal to grow it to where all students at the school can help take care of it.”