Horticulture class harvests first crop from greenhouse

T.J.Brown’s horticulture class at Springfield High School harvested the first crop from the school’s greenhouse last week. 

The class took the first cutting of several varieties of lettuce, and delivered it to the school lunch department.

 The class also pinched blossoms from the flowering plants. Pinching off the first flowers is important so that the plants branch out, grow more stems that result in fuller and more compact plants. 

The greenhouse is growing 50 hanging baskets of begonias and petunias.  There are 1,300 flowering plants with 25 varieties/colors including petunias, calibrachoa, impatiens, geraniums and ornamental grass. Vegetable plants growing in the greenhouse include asparagus, kale, spinach, tomatoes, swiss chard, beets, scallions, five varieties of leaf lettuce, bell peppers, habenaro peppers, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, rhubarb, eggplant, and a mixture of herbs and mints.

The school greenhouse is a learning tool. What can be more engaging than nurturing and exploring living things?  The goal is to help students use plants and gardens as contexts for developing a deeper, richer understanding of the world around them. “The horticulture class is now out in the greenhouse about 50% of the time,” Brown said during a recent interview.