Garden Club members enjoy a fall harvest in the P.C. Middle School’s ‘Giving Garden’
September 30, 2021 at 8:48 a.m.
Port Chester Middle School seventh-grader Kleydi Contreras looks for ripe raspberries in the Giving Garden during the new Garden Club’s fall harvest on Tuesday, Sept. 28. For students who had never planted before, seeing the results of their gardening was a new, exciting experience. Others said it brought back memories of horticultural activities with their relatives.
Seventh- and eighth-grade students used ingredients from the garden—supplemented with other items—to make appetizers for members of local organizations visiting to celebrate the fall harvest.
Seventh-grader Lauren Hempel picks Swiss chard in the Giving Garden. The garden is sustained by local families and students and is the source of over 1,000 pounds of donated food. Volunteers also enjoy the ingredients from the garden.
Eighth-grader Scarlett Pimenteo carries a tray of vegetables freshly picked from the garden. “I love to do stuff outside with my hands, like gardening and planting,” she said of the experience.
Seventh-grader Kenny Cruz (right) picks a green tomato as seventh-graders Kleydi Contreras (back left) and Lauren Hempel look for more. Inspired by the gardening he did in school, Cruz said he also planted fruits and vegetables with his family at home.
Family and Consumer Science teacher Allison Silverman, who founded and oversees the Giving Garden, looks on with joy as her students pick Swiss chard. “I love Ms. Silverman,” eighth-grader Scarlett Pimenteo said of her Garden Club teacher. “She just radiates good energy, so it’s just fun to do stuff with her.”
Seventh-grader Lauren Hempel looks for berries in the garden.
The Giving Garden is located on a hill adjacent to the Port Chester Middle School.
Fruits and vegetables harvested from the garden sit on a tray, ready for students to take home.
Eighth-grader Scarlett Pimenteo looks for ripe raspberries to pick.
