CitySprouts

CitySprouts is a garden program for the Cambridge public schools. An independent, tax-exempt organization, CitySprouts creates and maintains schoolyard gardens as a learning resource and as a catalyst for increasing food and agricultural awareness for urban youth and families. Website is www.citysprouts.org

When did we start?

In the winter of 2000 CitySprouts began planning at the Harrington with garden and cooking visits by Jane Smillie to the seven K-2 classrooms. In the spring children first began gardening at your site. Maureen Spinetti a neighbor and parent has been a steady volunteer in the garden.

How can I help?

We welcome visitors to the garden during the Drop-in Time (Fall 2008: Tuesdays 3-5pm) as well as other times arranged with the garden coordinator. We can use help in watering, gardening and inviting other families into the garden.

What happened last year in the garden?

We put a great deal of effort into creating a new gardening bed where classrooms could use the plant in their curriculum. We build a 20-foot by 15-foot blueberry patch with 16 new lavender plants. Can you guess which grade might use the lavender plants?

Three groups of kids helped build this blueberry patch with lavender. The first group was the Strong Girls Strong Women group. They cleared the ground, painted the nearby cement bench with a blueberry theme and then dug in two new blueberry bushes.

The second group were girls from the King Open extended Day program who in the muddy spring mixed in compost and dug in another blueberry bush. Later when we could buy the lavender plants with money from the National Gardening Association Youth Grant Award, we planted everything in their final home. Boys and their parents during the Thursday drop in made this happen.

Who is the current garden coordinator at the King Open?

Francey Hart, new at King Open this year, is paid by CitySprouts to made sure that the garden is adequately maintained and hosts the weekly drop-in (Fall 2008: Tuesdays 3-5pm). She works with teachers who want to visit the garden as part of their curriculum. She can be reached at  fhart@citysprouts.org or at 617-877-8980.

King Open also has a Gardening Committee with parents who volunteer.

There are 20 garden beds under cultivation. This includes a few permanent beds such as the Strawberry, Asparagus, Blueberry, Herbs, Shade, and Pollinator gardens.

What vegetables and fruit did you grow this year?

Arugula, Asian greens, Ancho hot peppers, asparagus, beets, Brussels’s sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, cucumbers, egg plant, garlic, dragon kale, lettuce, onion, Potatoes and fingerlings, snap beans, purple green beans, tomatilloes, cherry and large tomatoes, shell beans, spinach, acorn squash, Swiss chard, Thai hot peppers, soybeans, sweet peppers, and pole beans.

Apples, blueberries, crab apples, strawberries, and watermelon.

Why not corn? Because it never grew past 3 inches.