Garden Champions Help Save School Vegetable Gardens

PALM HARBOR, FL — Normally, the school gardens at Palm Harbor Middle School and Elisa Nelson Elementary School would be teeming with after-school garden club members, busy weeding, watering and watching out for pests.

But with the closure of public schools due to the coronavirus pandemic, students no longer have access to the school gardens.

To ensure that the crops don't literally die on the vine in the students' absence, a group of "garden champions" have stepped forward to tend the potatoes, squash, cucumbers and green beans during the students' absence.

Cindy Peacock is among those champions. A food service assistant with Pinellas Club Schools and club volunteer, she maintains the gardens at Palm Harbor Middle School and Elisa Nelson Elementary School.

While the student gardeners are unable to witness the harvest, Peacock has been videotaping and photographing the gardens so students are able to see the fruits of their labor.

And nothing will go to waste. The vegetables are being used in the Pinellas County Schools' free lunch program during the school shutdowns.

This article originally appeared on the Palm Harbor Patch

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