P.S. 20 Expands School Gardening Program to All Students

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By Priscila Ortiz

Green thumbs are popping up in P.S. 20 with a parent-led initiative to expand the school’s garden program to all 300 students.

Starting in 2011, The Clinton Hill School’s farm program originally only catered to two classes in the entire school. It’s grown since then, now reaching all 14 classes of students from pre-K to the fifth grade.

“The kids are always fascinated that you can actually eat the stuff that you harvest,” P.S. 20’s garden coordinator Jonathan Blumberg said.

Blumberg was there last March, when the garden expanded from potted plants in the school’s science lab to plant beds reaching about 15 square feet surrounding the perimeter of P.S. 20.

“A lot of kids don’t know where their food comes from,” he added. “So we’re really teaching about food that’s familiar to them and new foods that they have never heard of before.”

A few things found in the school’s plant beds include basil, squash, sweet bell peppers, lettuce and tomatoes, among many other varieties of veggies. Every two weeks, the classes either march outside or head to the school’s makeshift greenhouse to get their hands dirty.

Augusta Palmer, a mom of two students in P.S. 20 and a member of the parent-teacher association, said the idea came out after visiting Madiba Restaurant on 195 DeKalb Avenue. The local eatery, known for its South African cuisine, has its own rooftop garden that produces some of the food served.

“The kids are really getting to experience more experiential learning, that they really have their hands in the dirt,” Palmer said. “They get to see how seeds grow and they get to taste the fruits of their labor, so to speak.”

According to Palmer, P.S. 20’s farms expanded because of fundraising efforts by the PTA and the generosity of locals. PTA members started a campaign on the fundraising site ioby.org, reaching about two-thirds of its goal for the school year. Madiba Restaurant also pitched in, offering a free drink to any patron who donated more than $20 to the project.

“I think the fundraising has gone well. But our school, we’re not a particularly ‘monied’ or affluent school,” Palmer said. “We work hard to raise funds, and not just for P.S. 20 farms. I think we do very well, but we’re always looking for ways to do better.”

Blumberg said he introduces new recipes and dishes with food grown in the garden. If the garden’s yield is small, the kids eat some of their veggies right in class. “But if we have a large harvest, we just give it to the cafeteria,” he said. “It could never feed the whole school, but we could add something like our arugula to the school’s salad bar.”

“Kids are a lot more adventurous tasting food than people give them credit for,” he added.

On a particularly rainy day last week, P.S. 20’s first graders were forced to hold their gardening class indoors. While some tiny green thumbs were busy pushing squash seeds into miniature plant beds, others stood on their tiptoes, peaking out the window to see the harvest, some of which is growing on the school’s roof.

Kasie, 7, was occupied stirring the soil when she took a sniff of the earth. “It smells half disgusting, half nice … but to the plants it must smell really good!”