Gratz Greenhouse up and Growin’
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
After months of planning and an exciting semester of greenhouse events, a sturdy group of Fordies and Mawrtyrs met up once more with a brigade of Simon Gratz high school students to build tables and shelves for their roof-top greenhouse. Working under some serious time and resource constraints, we sanded wood until we sneezed, built two shelves and four tables, reattached a fallen door, cleaned, and cleared out gutters. We cut over 60 feet of wire and pushed through the scapes and occasional puncture wounds. We were, basically, totally badass.
Throughout the semester, the groups of students have met at Haverford and prepared a vegan meal at Ehaus, assembled ten lightboxes to help germinate seeds, and planted 150 milk cartons-worth of vegetables (including Arugula, Zucchini, Basil, Pole Beans, Rhubarb Chard, Tomatoes, Mustard Greens, and more!). This build day marked the first time the Gratz or Haverford students met in the greenhouse and the first time it’s been used since it was added to Simon Gratz several years ago.
We have more pictures/video footage that we’ll be trying to do something with soon, and we’re planning one last event for the end of the semester to gather Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Gratz teachers at the Greenhouse with a dream of making this a lasting connection.
