Chapman Highway Garden Club members continue to garden with students at South Knoxville Elementary School during the after-school program directed by Boys and Girls Club and Community Partnerships. Our program is year-round, and we have been so glad to be back in person with students in the garden this school year.

We plan to continue in the summer also. We are fortunate to have a new partnership with Beardsley Community Farm with the benefit of an on-site gardener working with us.

Our boys and girls have had a busy fall and winter—putting the gardens to bed by adding soil amendments and leaves; feeding birds and learning to ID them; making bird feeders and Christmas decorations; journaling weekly; harvesting broccoli, kale, and cabbage; and enjoying tasty samples cooked in an instant pot.

We replenished our compost container weekly, planted peas, and read library books about gardening, insects, etc. The children sowed micro-greens and harvested them for a delicious salad. We have weeded, made garden collages, eaten roasted sunflowers and pumpkin seeds, and had holiday parties.

The children have planting calendars for this year and have begun filling them out by planting dates and frost dates. We will soon plant more cool-season vegetables. Our youth members also help maintain a pollinator garden on the school grounds that we will add to this year. This is proving to be an exciting year of gardening with our young growers

CHCG and South Knoxville Elementary School Children