Garden prospers at Benner Elementary School

You can find a garden at Benner Elementary School that grows many produce and also has a pollinator garden to help attract insects and includes nectar-producing plants to enhance insect habitat and garden growth.

This school year, students have been able to use the garden for class projects and a little bit of fun including learning about the mission of a pollinator garden and how to harvest the produce grown.

On Sept. 24, students harvested watermelon that were planted this summer by the school’s summer garden families. It came with help from a local farmer and community volunteer who helped harvest, and slice and deliver watermelon to students.

On Sept. 27, a master gardener from the Snetsinger Butterfly Garden at Tudek Park in Ferguson Township in the Centre Region spoke to students about plants in the pollinator garden and just exactly what happens in the garden as winter approaches. The students even had the chance to research the garden by using magnifying glasses and butterfly eyes to look at and identify the plants.

By the end of October, students also hope to harvest pumpkins that have been growing in the garden. They will also be used for class projects, according to second-grade teacher Lata Anantheswaran.

*By Brit Milazzo, public relations director, BASD