What did the Gloucester High Environmental Club do this summer?

Participating in Gloucester U's Greenhouse/Zero Waste initiative led by Leslie Beaulieu and James Cook, the GHS e-club spent a lot of time with dirt, water, and vegetables this summer.

After donating bags and bags of lettuce grown in the Gloucester High School gardens early in the summer, we donated an addition 94 lbs. of produce grown in the gardens (squash, zucchini, broccoli, and cucumbers) to the Open Door food pantry in July and August. In the last week of the summer we also delivered tomatoes, a cucumber, summer squash, and broccoli to Gloucester Public School teachers getting ready for the school year.

We canned several jars of produce, including fennel and beets, from the GHS gardens to serve at school events in the fall and winter. In the process, we learned how to extend the bounty of the warm months into the months of the year when little will grow.

The zinnias have thrived. The spinach planted for the GHS biology program is coming up.The beans are almost ready to be harvested. Some other crops we planted are patch or not coming up at all, but we've learned from both successes and failures; and we've had more of the former and less of the latter. In fact, some failures, including lettuce and spinach that bolted, are now being composted, so their nutrients will nourish next year's crops.