Armijo’s new garden site will be a micro-garden…five or six half-barrels, some plastic containers, with flowerbeds, too. The plot will begin with just the basics, a few veggies and some herbs.

We are actively forming a garden club called Lettuce Grow. The goal of the garden is for students to revisit what good nutrition looks like. They will participate in the actual food cycle, from preparing the soil to planting and caring for the garden to harvesting the vegetables. Four or five classes will be partnering together on projects that incorporate garden.

We live in a world of quick unhealthy meals, microwave cooking, and prepackaged everything. We want students to experience food through a different lens: organic vegetables that they’ve grown themselves so that they can see the health benefits, among other things, of tending a garden.

The garden is underway!  “Here is what we have planted so far and harvest dates,” Ms. Herrera said. “Kale: harvest October 27; Spinach:  harvest October 5; Lettuce: harvest November 13; Green Beans: harvest October 28, Carrots: harvest November 13.” Plans are in place to plant potatoes at the next Lettuce Grow club meeting on Thursday, September 6 and they should be ready to harvest about three months later.

Herb starters have also been planted and those herbs should be good throughout the fall. They include rosemary, thyme, basil and lemongrass.

“We still need to get flowerbeds to place in between each of the half-barrels,” said Ms. Herrera.

Lettuce Grow meets Thursdays at lunch for a brief meeting in F-5 before heading out to tend the garden.

To support the development of the new garden, the Art department is going to create a mural. Ms. Herrera is also documenting the entire journey on Twitter at sylviaherrera@lamaestra707.