Calling All Gardeners - SHS Garden Needs Community Volunteers

The Scarsdale High School Sustainable Garden Project is celebrating its 10th spring planting this year, and five years of at least 1500 pounds of totally organic, fresh produce delivered to two important public food centers: Grace Church Soup Kitchen (White Plains) and Fred's Pantry (Peekskill). Students are committed to getting their hands dirty in the interest of building a more sustainable community, both inside and outside of the school grounds. Most of the school departments use the garden as an outdoor classroom, and the club helps to facilitate garden-based lessons where students learn about year-round eco-system-based food production, and see for themselves how fruitful a small piece of land can be. The garden cannot be planted and maintained without community support.

In 2014 the project hosted a Gardening Matters Conference, which brought over 100 participant guests to SHS to discuss hunger in America, and also to teach sustainable food production as key to building sustainable communities. In the same year, they were recognized at the White House by the EPA.

Alliances with the Friends of Scarsdale Parks, and Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) have brought advocacy, information, and plants, as well as volunteers. This year, they were asked to join Yale Blue Green. YBG "serves as a hub for thought leadership, collaborative action, lifelong learning and inspiration on initiatives relating to the environment and sustainability." In case any students were wondering about whether the garden would be recognized by institutions of higher education, this latest invitation should leave no doubt! Ms. Favretti represented the project at a Global Environmental Summit at Yale in November.

The garden itself depends on the community. Each spring and fall they have a volunteer day. The spring volunteer celebration and potluck picnic will be held on May 14 from 9-2. The community is invited to attend and welcome spring. If you cannot be there on that day, but you would be interested in pitching in during the summer months, please call Maggie Favretti (914) 721-2567.