Welcome to the Garden!

PS 48 Student Gardening 2025-2026

Another school year has started!  And the garden and outdoor classroom are ready to grow learners alongside plants.  We are off to a fast start with fall leafy green seedlings, the First Annual PS 48 Ginger Fest, and more!  Come back often to see what’s growing (cooking!) in PS 48.

1st Annual PS 48 Ginger Fest!  Fall 2025

What a yummy and spicy day trying different ginger products from cookies to candies to sodas and tea!  Ms. Binuya’s kindergarten class harvested ginger today that her former kindergarten students started growing indoors in winter 2025.  Those students, now first graders, transplanted those ginger rhizomes outdoors.  What started as tiny pieces of ginger in the classroom grew into huge ginger plants that grew all summer and into late Fall in the PS 48 garden.  And today those kindergarteners harvested over 20 pounds (lbs.) of ginger!  Thank you, New York Restoration Project (NYRP), for provide the ginger starts, the growing equipment, and technical expertise.  Ms. Genevieve is the best garden teacher!  What a deliciously spicy day indeed!

Fall 2025 GrowNYC Seed Donation

Thank you again, GrowNYC, for again supporting our student gardening and outdoor learning.  You provided our student gardeners with flowers, herb, and vegetable seed packets to plant, grow, and harvest!  Some seeds we will start indoors and transplant outdoors.  Some we will grow with the PS 48 Hydroponics equipment. Thank you again, GrowNYC!

Jamaica Hardware Donates Again!  Fall 2025

Thank you, Jamaica Hardware, for donating mulch to help the school garden thrive.  You didn’t have to.  You chose to.  And for that, we all say, “Thank you, Jamaica Hardware!”

NYRP Fall 2025 Vegetable Seedling Donation 

Thank you, New York Restoration Project, for donating leafy green seedlings!  Students will plant a Fall crop for harvest while the weather cools.  Without these seedling, our students would not be planting or learning about succession planting.  Thank you, NYRP!

Summer 2025 Gardening at PS 48

A big thank you to the kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) students who participated in garden programming under the guidance of Ms. Binuya, Ms. Benitez, and Ms. Cabrera.  They learned English, literacy, math and science skills while watering and growing perennial and annual plants.  

Mayor's Office Visits the Garden Summer 2025

The New York City Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture visited the school garden this summer!   Thank you, Ms. Binuya, for hosting the visit. Thank you, NYRP, for supporting for community gardening initiatives like ours.  Thank you, Qiana and Evan, for spending time within the space, the space that once was just construction debris, and perhaps dreaming a little with us.  We hope the New York City Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture takes inspiration in our story.

While there is much more to dream, presently the space (in large part due to NYRP efforts), is a space where the youth of Hunts Point can access what they deserve: time outdoors.  Whether it is to experience squealing over finding an unexpected worm lying in wait within the soil, or watching a bird rest, nibble on seeds, and bathe its feathers, or even to plant, tend, and harvest their own food, the space allows them to convene with nature and each other, right here, in Hunts Point.  To have conversations, to laugh, to be awed by the wild world that is our urban forest.  To dream bigger dreams for their future than they may have known to dream before.

We have dreams, small and large, and look forward to collaborating with you to see them grow better than we ever imagined.

PS 48 Student Gardening 2024-25

Wow!  What a year in the garden.  Students explored, inquired, read, grew, spoke, harvested, wrote, observed, listened, and more, both indoors and outdoors.  They grew (and continue to grow) garlic, ginger, potatoes and other root vegetables, blueberries, leafy greens, strawberries, blackberries, and more!  

A full garden renovation in the Fall generous done by the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) kicked off the year.  NYRP educational staff supported staff and students to become experts in ginger propagation.  Same with garlic and even with winter cover crops!  NYRP has empowered our school community to farm locally indeed!  From there students learned and explored fungi, growing edible versions in the classroom.  They learned about seed saving, returning to the garden this spring to plant long beans they saved last fall.  They explored growing mediums beyond soil, investigating hydroponics, to grow a large basil and parsely bounty.  And they went full cycle, diving deep into the world of compost, using worms indoors and different compost bins outdoors.  Through the Food Detectives curriculum, they internalized food nutrition and the hidden world of food marketing, empowering them to make healthier food and drink decision.  Connect, they became chefs, traveling around the world exploring different simple and affordable recipes with Allergic to Salad. They learned a lot in a year, lessons in nature and agriculture that hopefully stick with them for a lifetime and beyond.

Thank you to all the South Bronx Schoolyard Garden and Outdoor Classroom Garden Supporters who continue to ensure that the PS 48 school community interacts with the natural world, bettering the world and themselves.

New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Continues Supporting the Garden!

Since Fall 2024 when NYRP completed a full scale renovation of the school garden, our staff and students have received ongoing investment and support to became better gardeners and stewards of the natural world.  Through the support of NYRP educational staff, we have learned to protect our agricultural growing spaces through the use of cover crops.  We are growing and harvesting garlic and propagating ginger indoors and outdoors.  We continue to learn best practices and training to teach students about growing and harvesting your own food.  Because of NYRP, our students are growing countless leafy greens and root vegetables and look forward to the harvest!  Thank you for making a long term investment in our school garden with training, resources, capacity building, materials, plants, and eagerness to share your knowledge!

Students Grow Mushrooms on Toilet Paper Rolls Spring 2025

Check out the process for growing mushrooms in the PS 48 classrooms.  Students grow them different ways on different substrates (growing medium for fungi).  This winter and spring PS 48 students used toilet paper rolls on the substrate the oyster mushrooms grew on.  We learned about sterilization, spawn, the life cycle of some fungi, and more!   These are edible mushrooms, too!  Yum yum!

Potatoes Are Growing! 

Students planted potatoes during early spring.  Now they are starting to grow above ground.  The leaves will bring nutrients down to the tubers to grow new potatoes.  We can't wait to harvest in the Fall!  Yum!  What do you want to eat with the potatoes you grew?

Rut Donates to the School Garden!

A huge thank you goes out to Rut, a PS 48 fifth grade student for donating rulers to the school garden to help with planting seeds.  Her ruler donation will let us plant seeds spaced apart just right.  This will help the plants grow healthy and productive for us to harvest and eat.  Yum!

Green Guerillas Plant Donation Spring 2025

Thank you, Green Guerillas, for the generous plant donation to the school garden.  We received so many herbs and vegetable plants for our students to plant, grow, and harvest.  With such a variety of leaves and aromas, students will learn so much about plant diversity and uses.  Thank you, Mr. Ramdass, for picking up the plants for our school garden!

NYRP and PS 48 Planting Day Spring 2025 

Thank you, New York Restoration Project, for coming to lead a planting day at our school garden.  Students planted leafy greens , including different types of lettuce, swiss chard, and kale.  The students planted root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, onions, radishes, and carrots!  And they transplanted their well tended ginger that they started growing in their PS 48 classrooms!  Thank you for celebrating urban agriculture with us, NYRP!

PS 48 Students Say Thank You to NYRP Spring 2025

Ms. Binuya's students shared messages of gratitude for all the support that NYRP has provided for them to become urban gardeners.  Thank you for the fun outdoor learning!

Green Guerillas Donates Vegetable and Flower Seeds Spring 2025

Thank you, Green Guerillas, for AGAIN providing our school garden with seeds and trash pickers.  You are helping our students learn to plant, grow, and harvest food and create wildlife spaces.  Additionally, you are creating a new generation of ecologically concerned citizens!  Just like you have been since 1973!!!

Time to Transplant the Cabbage!  Spring 2025

Bonnie Plants donated 45 cabbage seedlings to our school.   Students grew them in the classroom until the weather conditions and the plants themselves were ready to continue growing outdoors.  Many have survived and are ready for the next step!  It's time to transplant, or replant, the cabbage into the school garden's raised beds!  Let's see how well you grow!

It's Ginger Time! Winter and Spring 2025

This winter and spring, the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) helped our school community learn about ginger propagation.  NYRP provided the ginger, coco coir growing medium, and materials to grow indoors, including lights, a rack, and heating mats. Ms. Binuya and Mr. Ramdass raised the ginger in the classroom during winter, waiting for warmer weather.  Now the ginger is reading to grow all summer and fall in the school garden.  The students are ready for ginger tea, gingerbread, ginger ale, and more!

Student Seed Savers Plant Their Saved Long Bean Seeds

All winter long, the seeds harvested last fall were stored in a cool and dark place.  Now spring has arrived and it's time to grow some more food in the garden.  These students followed the directions they wrote on their seed packets last fall after researching the growing conditions for the seed.  Good luck, seeds!  You're in safe care with these student Seed Savers and gardeners.

Spring 2025 GrowNYC Seed Donation

Thank you again, GrowNYC, for always supporting our gardening and outdoor learning.  You provided our student gardeners with flowers, herb, and vegetable seed packets to plant and grow this season.  Some seeds we will start indoors and transplant outdoors.  Some we will grow with the PS 48 Hydroponics equipment.  Other seeds we will directly sow outdoors in the school raised garden beds. Many of the seeds are perennial native pollinator friendly flowers that support local wildlife like birds.  Thank you again, GrowNYC!

Hudson Valley Seed Company Donates Seeds! Spring 2024

Hudson Valley Seed Company has again donated flower and vegetable seeds for our school garden.  Thank you!!!  We cannot wait to for spring to arrive!  Thank you for your donation.  We love the artwork on the seed packets.  Art, science, literacy, and gardening all together.  Pretty creative!

Investigating and Growing Garlic Fall 2024

We are learning all about garlic, including the parts of the plant, how to plant, grow, harvest, and eat it, so much more. Yum!!!  Thank you, New York Restoration Project, and Green Guerillas, for donating hardneck garlic for out student farmers to explore and grow. We can't wait to harvest in the spring!

Blueberry Investigation and Planting Fall 2024

We investigated the blueberry plant, including the soil conditions needed to grow delicious blueberries.  We amended the soil even to make it healthier for a blueberry bush to grow in the PS 48 Blueberry Patch.  We explored how to make a dye from the fruit of the blueberry plant.  We can't wait to harvest the bluerries in the spring alongside the birds and other animals who rely on these native fruits to survive.

Planting Flower Bulbs Fall 2024

Thank you, Green Guerillas, 4-H of New York City, Cornell Cooperative Extension, The City Gardens Club of New York City, and others for donating various flower bulbs, like daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and crocus.  Students planted them throughout the PS 48 Garden for spring blooming.

Fall 2024 GrowNYC Seed Donation

Thank you again, GrowNYC, for always supporting our gardening and outdoor learning.  We just received a wide variety of flower, herb, and vegetable seed packets for students to grow from seed.  Some seeds we will start indoors and transplant outdoors.  Some we will grow with the PS 48 Hydroponics equipment.  Other seeds we will directly sow outdoors in the school raised garden beds. Many of the seeds are perennial native pollinator friendly flowers that support local wildlife like birds.  Thank you again, GrowNYC!

Bulb Time!  4-H of NYC and Cornell University Cooperative Extension

Thank you to 4-H of New York City and the Cornell University Cooperative Extension for donating various bulbs as part of the Daffodil Project.  We look forward to learning about plant growth diversity with the different types of bulbs that develop underground.  We will plant the daffodil and tulip bulbs in the ground this fall to await their spring blooms!  Thank you, 4-H of NYC and Cornell University Cooperative Extension!

Highlights of Student Gardening During the 2023-2024 School Year

TreesNY Teaches about Equitable Access to Healthy Foods

Students learned English as part of the South Bronx Intensive English Sessions after school program while outdoors with TreesNY environmental educator, Ms. Maddy.  They planted pollinator friendly plants, including edible plants like raspberries.  They learned about the importance of pollination and supporting pollinators.   Here are some student THANK YOU letters and artwork.  Thank you again for your collaboration, TreesNY, and Ms. Maddy!

Growing Italian Oyster Mushrooms in Vegetable Garden Beds

Learn about different ways to grow mushrooms alongside the different plants we grow in the garden.    We are growing Italian Oyster mushrooms in straw that covers up the soil around our vegetable plants.    This added straw protects the soil by keeping it moist,  adds nutrients to the  soil, and keeps weed plants away (plants we don't want growing!).   The mushrooms also helps the soil structure to grow stronger and healthier vegetables!  This project is supported by The City Gardens Club of NYC and donors on DonorsChoose.

Butterflies Released into the Garden!

Ms. Lloyd's class learned about pollination, pollinators, and the importance of creating wildlife spaces for plants and animals.  They held a release party in May for the butterflies that they raised in their classroom over many weeks!  Safe travels and happy pollinating, butterflies!  Come back and visit often.

Growing Almond Agaricus Mushrooms on Compost

The garden received a large donation of compost from the NYC Department of Sanitation.  Students used the compost to grow an almond agaricus mushroom bed using the compost.  Compost is nutritious (yummy!) for the plants that we will grow in the soil.  This compost is made right here in the city we live: New York City!  It is made from food scraps and other decaying plant material by the NYC Department of Sanitation.  This project is supported by The City Gardens Club of NYC and donors on DonorsChoose.

NYC Dept of Sanitation Donates Compost!  Spring 2024

We are grateful to be one of the first organizations to receive a pallet's worth of bagged compost- delivered free!  We  will grow mighty plants using the food waste from our fellow New Yorkers!  PS 48 already composts food scraps using worm bins in the classroom.  This donation helps us make connections with the decomposer, producer, and consumer cycle of life.  Compost supports soil in  many ways, helping us grow better plants.  Compost supports beneficial organisms,  helps the soil keep moisture, and adds nutrients to the soil!  Thank you DSNY!!!

Growing Potatoes in the South Bronx Spring 2024

Second and third grade students learn English while preparing "seed potatoes" from left over potatoes.  They cut the potatoes around the "eyes" to begin growing new potatoes to harvest this year.  They planted the potatoes in pots outside in the garden.  What a way to learn English!  As student Mario said, "I already grow mangos and lemons.  Now I can grow potatoes too!"

Growing Wine Cap Mushrooms in the Garden!

Students are learning about fungi.  Fungi are all around us, and essential to all kinds of life forms.  But we don't teach out fungi as much as we do about plants and animals.  And outdoor learning is a great space to learn by doing.   So students are 'planting' fungi mycelia that will grow by using different substrates.  Eventually the fungi will 'fruit' and we will see the mushrooms we are most familiar with.   This project is funded by donors on DonorsChoose.

Spring 2024 GrowNYC Seed Donation

Thank you, GrowNYC, for always supporting our gardening and outdoor learning.  We just received all these seed packets for students to grow from seed.  Some seeds we will start indoors and transplant outdoors.  Some we will grow with the PS 48 Hydroponics equipment.  Other seeds we will directly sow outdoors in the school raised garden beds. Thank you again, GrowNYC!

2023 Grow NYC Bucket Brigade and Soil Delivery!

Nearly 200 students came together alongside their teachers and school staff to support the school garden!  Thank you to GrowNYC and NYC Parks GreenThumb for the HUGE soil, mulch, and lumber donation and delivery.  The students got busy shoveling, hauling, and dumping the soil and mulch to create raised garden spaces and enrich the soil.  They are creating an outdoor learning space that will also provide habitat for wildlife within the Hunts Point community.  Plant a seed.  Grow a plant.  Watch an animal harvest a leaf, flower, or seed.  Way to go, gardeners of PS 48!  Thank you again, GrowNYC and NYC Parks GreenThumb!

Raised Bed Install Fall 2023

Nice work, student gardeners!  You built and installed 9 raised beds in the garden!  Soon, those raised beds will be filled with healthy soil by the PS 48 Bucket Brigade.  Then we can get started planting seeds and seedling, creating habitat and food source for local wildlife.  Nice work, everyone!

PS 48 Gardeners Create Living Memorial Fall 2023

PS 48 gardeners came together with NYC Parks, Partnerships for Parks, Southern Boulevard Business Improvement District, Loving the Bronx and Drew Gardens to help revitalize the park space and continue to create a living memorial for the enslaved people whose graves are unmarked within Drake Park.   Students planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs donated by New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P), Cornell University Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Program and Loving the Bronx’s Nilka Martell, as well as learned to become community and park advocates, and helped restore the local park and memorial space. Here are some photos from their work.  It's progress towards writing the people back into our collective history and a continuation of prior student work creating a living memorial at the Hunts Point Slave Burial Ground Project.

Getting Ready for Next Year!  Fall 2023

Fall is for planting!  Students planted azaleas and rhodendrons in pots on a chilly fall day.  The plants were watered and preprared for a cold winter here in Hunts Point!  Plus they learned a lot of English too!

Summer School 2023 Gardening @ PS 48

A big thank you to the kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) students who participated in garden programming under the guidance of Ms. Binuya and Ms. Benitez.  They learned English, literacy, math and science skills while growing perennial and annual plants.  They grew foods like sweet potatoes, blueberries, peas, pumpkins, and carrots.  They also raised native pollinator plants like sunflowers and coneflowers.  Lastly, they planted shade loving plants like rhododendrons.  Thank you for creating more habitat for nature here in Hunts Point!

IS 254 Garden Supports PS 48 Garden Summer 2023

A big thank you to the IS 254 Garden Club.  Thank you for support our elementary school garden with your materials donation!  The hose reel and hose will really help our student gardeners water more plants  in a quicker manner.  The compost and garden tools will help propel the garden forward!  Thank you to your middle school for collaborating with our elementary school!

Garden and Art Design Spring 2023

Wow!  The PS 48 artists are busy designing and creating artistic creations for the garden.  They are painting raised beds, benches, and chairs with different themes.  A special "Thank You" goes to Mr. Papo and Mr. Felix for their carpentry skills.  They constructed the garden raised beds from the lumber.  A big shout out goes out to the PS 48 artists who have been studying and learning with Ms. DeLeaver and Mr. Langley.  Thank you to these talented artists and teachers!  Lastly, without the support of GrowNYC School Gardens, we would not have lumber for raised beds or benches!  Coming soon: another bucket brigade to add soil in the 4 new garden beds!

GrowNYC School Garden Tool Pick Up 2023

Thank you (again) to GrowNYC School Gardens and their amazing staff for helping our students become gardens, scientists, and nature enthusiasts.  In May 2023 on a VERY rainy day, they energetically provided our school with garden tools, equipment, seeds, and benches to continuing 'growing' the school garden.  Thank you for helping us and LOTS of other New York City schools!  More photos to be added as students garden.  :)

TreesNY Teaches about Equitable Access to Healthy Foods

Students will be learn by doing with TreesNY environmental educator, Maddy.  They are mapping local areas for fresh food like greenmarkets, farmers markets, community gardens, and PS 48!!!!  How?!?!?  Because of the support of TreesNY we will be planting huckleberry bushes to grow food here in at PS 48.  Thank you for your collaboration, TreesNY.

PS 48 Student Gardeners Spring 2023

With the return of Spring, students are taking on the role of gardener.  They are growing and tending to plants inside and outside.  Click on the photo album to see some of the progress and learning taking place.  They are learning to collaborate.  They are learning math and science skills.  They are using art to express ideas.  They are reading, writing, listening, and speaking.  They are learning English!  Join us!

GrowNYC School Garden Seed Giveaway 2023!

Thank you, GrowNYC, for the generous seed donation!  We received free vegetable and flower seeds for planting in the garden.  We look forward to "germinating" seeds in the classroom and "direct sowing" outdoors.  We will get started reading the planting directions.  We will learn how to measure row spacing, seed depth, and other math skills!  There's a lot to plan!  It takes science, math, and reading skills!

PS 48 Students Plant Wildflowers Spring 2023

Students learn about the importance of wildflowers, pollinators, and ecology.  They planted wildflower seeds in trees beds to attract native pollinators (animals).  These  pollinators include birds, like the colibri or hummingbird (thank you, Mia and Hemily)!  They also include butterflies, bees, and all sorts of insects.  By planting wildflowers, pollinators receive food, and help sustain (keep healthy) plants and animals for all of us, including the food we eat!

PS 48 Daffodil Bulbs Start to Bloom! Spring 2023

Last Fall (2022), PS 48 students plants hundreds of daffodil bulbs alongside the trees on the sidewalk.  Now it's springtime!  The sun is out longer.  The days are getting longer.  The temperature is warming up.  And now, those daffodil bulbs are waking up and blooming!  What a sight!  Way to go, green thumbs of PS 48!

Hudson Valley Seed Company Donates Seeds! Spring 2023

Hudson Valley Seed Company donated flower and vegetable seeds to our school garden.  Thank you!!!  We cannot wait to get started planting.  Thank you for your donation.  We love the artwork on the seed packets.  Art, science, and gardening all together.  Amazing.

PS 48 Starts to Compost!  Winter and Spring 2023

PS 48 student gardeners participated in a Zoom workshop with Grow NYC to learn about composting food scraps.  We will have red wiggler worms compost (break down) food scraps and turn it into compost.  Compost is like humus in soil.  The compost is nutritious (yummy!) for the plants that we will grow in the soil.  Plus composting helps keep material out of landfills.  Plants make food that we eat.  The parts of the plants we don't eat are called food scraps.  We give the food scraps to worms in a "worm bin."  They digest (eat) the food scraps.  This turns into compost!  We put the compost with the soil around plants we grow.  This helps grow healthy plants and food that we eat.  And the cycle goes on and on.  Thank you, again, Grow NYC!    Learn about composting with this video (English).   Aprende sobre el compostaje con este video (español).

2022 Grow NYC Bucket Brigade and Soil Delivery!

Over 120 amazing PS 48 student gardeners participated in an outside service learning project with NYC Parks and Grow NYC.  A large delivery of soil and lumber came at the school.  Students collaboratively worked to transfer the soil to the garden using shovel, buckets, teamwork, lots of energy and laughs!  Come spring the garden is gonna be blooming with all these gardeners!  Take a look at the event by clicking on the photo below.  Thank you, NYC Parks GreenThumb and Grow NYC for your generous support.

2022 Fall NY4P Daffodil Bulb Planting and Service Learning Project

PS 48 students participated in an outside service learning project this Fall.  With support from New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P), students planted donated daffodil bulbs in the tree pits surrounding the school property on Coster Street and Spofford Avenue.  Click the image to view more photos of the Student Gardener/Farmers.  :)  Thank you NY4P!  Want to help support the school garden?  Let us know!

2022 Seed Savers Exchange Grows a Bronx Garden

Thank you, Seed Savers Exchange and the Herman's Garden Seed Donation Program, for the generous donation of seed packets for our student gardeners to grow a diverse garden in the South Bronx here at PS 48!  Thank you for your generosity.  Seed Savers Exchange "stewards America’s culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories."

2018 South Bronx Gardeners Explore Nature

Spring 2017 Gardening Begins!

Stewardship of Drake Park...Continues!

Over 125 students from P.S. 48 collaborated with New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) and NYC Parks to beautify Drake Park. For the second year, on Friday, October 17, 2014, the students planted daffodil bulbs in remembrance of September 11, placed mulch around tree beds, raked the falling leaves, and improved the site of the Hunts Point Slave Burial Ground. Thank you, New Yorkers for Parks, for donating the bulbs. Thank you, NYC Parks, for donating mulch. Thank you to both groups for providing tools and lending your planting expertise!

Art in the Garden Spring 2014

Ms. Muzik and Ms Binuya paint in the garden with kindergarten artists. Now that is colorful...and fun! What else can you do in a garden?!?!