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Schools

Greenport School Receives Garden Grant

Greenport School has received a grant from Slow Food East End to start a vegetable garden.

When people think of traditional school lunches, fresh locally grown garden greens rarely come to mind, but that’s about to change at

Greenport School is the recipient of at $3,000 grant from Slow Food East End to start a vegetable garden at the school. The school has already set aside a 15’ by 40’ plot and the posts for the deer fence are already up.

School nurse Carol Worth, who has spearheaded the school’s effort to start a garden, is brimming with excitement.

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“We preach to the kids about leading a healthy lifestyle and there’s finally something I can actually do to help our kids eat healthy,” said Worth.

The idea to start a garden at the school is not new, according to Worth. The Fifth Grade class has been participating in Cornell Cooperative Extension Nutrition program for the last three years. Worth attended Cornell’s annual meeting and was approached by officials there to see if Greenport would be interested in a vegetable garden. From there, Worth has been attending meetings of Edible Schoolyards of the East End and touring school gardens on the South Fork.

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While Worth was researching gardens, Slow Food East End was raising funds to start a school garden on the North Fork said Mary Morgan, Slow Food Vice President.

“I approached the principal and told him Slow Food would like to get a proposal for a vegetable garden from the school,” said Morgan.

School gardens are not new to the East End and Slow Food has helped several schools on the South Fork with garden projects. Southampton, Bridgehampton, Springs  and Tuckahoe all have established gardens. Morgan said about a year and a half ago, her organization starting raising funds to help North Fork schools start gardens.

With the grant in hand, the school is pricing materials for raised beds to grow herbs and vegetables.

“We’re starting this project with the 5th grade, but I would like to see every child in this school participate in the garden,” Worth said.

Worth said the possibilities for bringing the garden into the curriculum are endless. She hopes the kids can make their own salads and vinaigrettes or start seedlings in the classroom and transplant them to the garden. She also said Chef Rosa Ross of has agreed to partner with the school, as part of The Chefs Move to Schools program, to help with nutrition education, healthy cooking, and maybe even a walking tour of her kitchen.

Slow Food has pledged its help with planning and even planting, and wants to stay involved with the garden. In fact, part of the proceeds from the silent auction at Slow Food’s Restaurant Crawl on Sunday, May 1 will go to the Greenport School garden as well.

“We’ve told them to please use our expertise. Let us know how and when you need us,” Morgan said.

Right now Worth says it’s a learning process getting the garden up and running. Worth has taken courses offered by the and hopes will provide some ideas as well. She has formed a Garden Committee and is hoping other members of the community come forth to help volunteer for the project.

“We’re looking for help and we’re hoping master gardeners will come forward to lend us their expertise,” she said.

Both students and community members have seen the posts go up and have told her they are eager to see the garden emerge. She looks to the school gardens on the South Fork as inspiration.

“Other gardens have massive greenhouses, but this is a start. It’s not too big but it is manageable for our school,” Worth said.

If any members of the community would like to volunteer please contact Carol Worth at 631-477-1950.

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