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Garden
The GSB Community Garden provides a garden-to-table living laboratory space and community gathering place which focuses on ecological growth, place-based learning, service, environmental stewardship and sustainability.
History
Over the past several years, the GSB Community Garden has evolved from a modest campus garden, which provided fruits and vegetables to the dining hall, into a significant educational and community resource.
The transformation began in earnest during the spring and summer of 2014, when several Lower School families helped to pilot the Garden Growers Group, a program that brought volunteers from the school community into the garden. Lower School science teacher Lynn Prosen started the group and met with the volunteers on Thursday mornings, weather permitting, to weed, plant and harvest. In the spring of 2015, headmaster Sid Rowell named Prosen to the role of Garden Education Coordinator to expand the educational use of the garden. Soon after, the Garden Team, comprised of a core group of faculty and staff, was formed to further integrate the GSB Community Garden into the academic and extracurricular programs at the school.
Future Plans
The GSB Community Garden will continue to evolve and grow in ways that complement our academic curriculum and the life of the school. Some initiative for the near future include planting a blueberry patch and a pumpkin patch, the introduction of vertical gardening with grapes and other vining plants, the addition of compost bins and a larger composting area, and the introduction of a “three sisters” patch, featuring the companion plants: winter squash, corn and climbing beans. The Garden Growers work also hopes to create a Stone Soup section, to tie in with the Lower School lessons and community day surrounding the Stone Soup story.
Garden Growers Group
The entire GSB Community is invited to participate in the Garden Growers Group. Help the garden to grow by sharing your time. There are also tasks that do not require getting your hands dirty, including sorting and saving seeds, planning summer plantings, updating our log books, and keeping the GSB Community updated about events in the garden.
The goal of Garden Growers is to bring our community together with the common purpose of environmental stewardship and sustainability. By working together, we will help create a place where the entire GSB community can learn to grow and grow to learn by nurturing and sharing the bounty of nature.
Open Gardening Times are held during the school year Monday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The garden boasts more than thirty varieties of edible plants, an apple orchard, grape vines and rows of flower beds. A true community effort, the garden shines with the everyday magic of enthusiasm, determination and hard work.
We are working to shape the garden into a true garden-to-table living laboratory and community gathering place which focuses on growth, place-based learning, service, and community. Using the garden for educational and community events will help to further the 21st Century Skills, Community, and Environmental Sustainability goals within the school strategic plan and will help to preserve the agricultural history of the school.
Gill St. Bernard's School
Gill St. Bernard’s is a private, coeducational day school for students age three through grade 12, located in suburban New Jersey. Each of the three school divisions provides a vigorous, meaningful and age-appropriate curriculum, and all students benefit from the environmental learning opportunities that exist on our 208-acre campus.