Six raised beds serve as individual sensory stations.
Each bed contains lavender, lemon balm, parsley, mountain mint, marjoram, and basil.
Students started each plant from seed inside and moved them outside to the raised beds during the month of April.
Neighborhood squirrels have tormented us for years but thanks to some new squirrel mitigaion techniques put into place this season, we are currently winning the Battle of the Squirrels 2026.
Each fall, students learn about companion planting by studying the Hodenosaunee story of The Three Sisters.
Watch as students grow their own version of a three sisters garden in a sub-irrigated stock planter they built last year.
Sister corn arrived the first week in May.
Sister bean was planted two weeks later.
Sister squash will be planted when sister bean sprouts.
The flower beds in the main site garden serve several purposes.
In addition to being a pollinator garden in the largest city in the country, we are an official Monarch Butterfly Waystation with over 20 milkweed plants.
Students are able to practice work-based learning skills that are specific to gardening while also reinforcing the skills learned in their classroom vocations.
For some classes, we practice using a visual task analysis to clean a section of the flower beds. In another class, we might practice using visual checklists to identify and remove weeds. Some students are learning to enjoy flowers without stepping on them or picking them to bring home. The flower beds at the main site garden provide countless entry-points for engaging students in work-based learning.