School Garden’s Second Season Surpasses First, Food Pantry Receives Array of Fresh Vegetables

ERMA – Some say the second time around is always easier. For a group of students from Lower Cape May Regional (LCMR) schools, it’s not only easier but also more successful as they participate in a service project to provide “home-grown” vegetables to St. Barnabas Cares Food Pantry in Villas. 
“When they called and asked if I would like to have fresh vegetables again,” said Leslie Flick, food pantry coordinator, “I said absolutely. The people who come to our food pantry really did appreciate having all the fresh vegetables last year and so far this year, it’s been great.”
The students, who are in seventh through 12th grades, are part of the district’s extended summer school program. Under their instructors’ tutelage, they are growing zucchini, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, four types of tomatoes (Rutgers, beefsteak, cherry and Roma) and green and red bell peppers.
Better Than 2015
“We’re having much more success this year than last,” noted Joan Dilling, high school horticulture instructor.
Last year, it rained for three days after planting, and the plants became water-logged recalled Dan DeWaters, a high school instructional aide. They had to be replanted, delaying harvesting until August.
Grant Helped Project
“This year, thanks to a grant from the Cape Educational Fund, we were able to improve the garden with manure, mulch, and compost,” added Dilling.
DeWaters also used part of the grant to install river rocks along the outside of the raised beds for improved drainage. Because of the improvements, they made better use of the space to increase the garden’s yield.
“We grew the majority of plants from seed in the greenhouse at the high school,” Dilling noted.
They were more mature when DeWaters and Dilling planted them while the students were taking their final exams.
Summer school started June 28 and as it wrapped up Aug. 4, the students had been providing vegetables to the food pantry for three weeks.
Food Pantry
The food panty is only open one hour on Tuesday evenings. Families who live in the 08251 and 08204 ZIP code areas are eligible to go there only once a month.
The pantry is sponsored by St. Barnabas by the Bay Episcopal Church, 13 W. Bates Ave., Villas. Typically, families can select from non-perishable foods, Flick said.
“This year, the numbers are down here and across other pantries that I talk with. I take that as a good sign that people were able to get jobs this summer or are using food stamps. We’re getting about 10-15 families a night now.”
Quizzed for Recipes
This year, the prolific plants seem to be eggplant, according to Flick and the class instructors. “I’ve had a lot of people asking what it is and what to do with it,” Flick said.
“Also, people are wondering what to do with the zucchini, so I’ve been looking for a lot of recipes to share. I tell our clients that you can use zucchini in bread, shred it like spaghetti, or fry it.”
In addition to the vegetable garden, the students planted flower containers to take home where they could enjoy zinnias, sunflowers, and marigolds with their families, according to Tami Kern, one of the teachers sponsoring the program.
Bees and Hornworms
Finally, the students have also been able to learn about the importance of bees and how to deal with insects that could disseminate some of their garden plants.
“We found some of our leaves missing and chewed and saw that we had the hornworm,” DeWaters noted. “They like tomato and pepper plants, so we were able to show the students what the worm looks like and how to remove it from the plants until they were all gone.
“I think we solved all our problems from last year,” he added. “We’re having a really successful year this summer.”
Pantry Accepts Donations
Once summer school ended, members of the school staff continued picking the vegetables for donation until the harvest is completed.
Flick said anyone wishing to donate fresh vegetables to the food pantry should contact her at 886-2625 or by email at lesbeth1@comcast.net. Clothing is also available free to families, and donations are always welcome as well, she said.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.