Garden enthusiasts are being invited to participate in a community garden at the southeastern corner of Westlock Elementary School.
There are six small growing beds to the right-hand-side of the entrance at the school and the space is up for grabs this summer.
“Every year, we’ve managed to get those beds up and going,” said Steve Hoffart, substitute teacher and horticulturist. “The trouble is with the school year, they look terrific right at the end of June and then you need people through the summer.”
He noted students from a Grade 4 class planted carrots, sunflowers, squash, cucumbers and thyme in a flowerbed last Wednesday morning. The group worked with Hoffart on the gardening project to learn about plant life during his science class.
“It’s a great learning tool for the science class,” Hoffart said. “The kids are really interested because they can come out here and follow the progress.”
However, he expressed some concerns about the risks involved with planting a vegetable garden at a school.
“It’s not the greatest spot because there are always kids coming and going so if there are carrots it might be a little bit too tempting,” he said with a chuckle. “It might be better to put in flowers and decorative stuff because, I mean, it’s a school environment. We have security cameras up there, but lets face it — kids are kids.”
WES principal Steven Kaplan echoed Hoffart’s concerns.
“Typically when the plants start to become prominent in July and August, we’re not here,” Kaplan said. “I think it’s slowly not become a priority for our teachers so I know this is an initiative sponsored by the school advisory committee council. They had, just last night (May 28), asked about making it available to community people who might want to plant stuff here.”
He said the community is more than welcome to utilize the planters this June and must contact the school to arrange a specific plot.
“That way everyone gets a spot,” Kaplan said.
