{"id":1820,"date":"2018-06-13T13:53:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T17:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1820"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:30:08","slug":"garden-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/garden-partners\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Science teacher Ed Weeast & Eli prepare a raised bed<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UMES, Marion Sarah Peyton school collaborate on gardening project<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, June 13, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somerset County’s Marion Sarah Peyton Adult & Alternative Learning Center focused on food as a school-wide project during 2017-18 academic year, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore played a supporting role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It started in September, when educators at the Peyton school helped their students partner with the Maryland Food Bank to launch a satellite food pantry that quickly was assisting some five dozen families, including those with children at other public schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educators at Peyton were keenly aware that some of their own students as well as those at other public schools were not getting substantive meals, especially over the weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was need for something \u2026,\u201d assistant principal Rob Hopkins told The Daily Times newspaper, \u201cbecause if you’re coming in hungry, you can’t function.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The food pantry project was more than just a convenient place to store and then hand out non-perishable groceries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School leaders took it upon themselves to show students how to prepare the food they took home. Students also got hands-on experience stacking shelves when food shipments arrived as well as packing carry-home bags distributed Mondays and Wednesdays and boxes on Fridays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe students loved the opportunity to give back and volunteer their time to make boxes to send home,\u201d Hopkins said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The food pantry idea proved so popular, school leaders saw a \u201cteachable moment\u201d and reached out to UMES in November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would the university be willing give the Peyton school food project a helping hand with starting a garden?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research assistant professor Corrie Cotton<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Enter Corrie Cotton, a research assistant professor in UMES’ Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences<\/strong><\/a>. As her title implies, Cotton has at her disposal a greenhouse she uses for teaching and conducting research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cotton saw an opportunity to put the concept of \u201chorticultural therapy\u201d into practice. She donated seeds for what she calls \u201ccool season crops\u201d – two varieties of lettuce, carrots and cauliflower – and got the plants started well before outdoor planting season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, the school acquired used tractor trailer \/ bus tires to act as raised bed for the student gardeners, who decorated them as a form of art therapy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Hopkins said \u201cin science class, we talked about different types of vegetable plants and when each would produce.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By April, the UMES plants were ready to go outside, so they were handed over to students. (An unseasonably rainy spring was not an inhibiting factor.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project allowed our students to learn how to garden and also find an outlet to use during the school day,\u201d Hopkins said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having mature, greenhouse-grown plants provided a hands-on opportunity to nurture the garden before school closes for summer break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe students have loved planting their own mini-garden and really enjoyed the growth they witnessed,\u201d Hopkins said. \u201cIt has also been a huge help with our autistic population; they love taking their breaks in the garden and watering their plants.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lettuce varieties have produced three clippings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When school breaks for summer vacation June 19, Hopkins said he’s hopeful a local church might be willing to step in and care for the garden, and \u201ctake advantage of the crops that continue to produce.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UMES, Marion Sarah Peyton school collaborate on gardening project Wednesday, June 13, 2018 Somerset County’s Marion Sarah Peyton Adult & Alternative Learning Center focused on food as a school-wide project during 2017-18 academic year, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore played a supporting role.  It started in September, when educators at the Peyton school…Read more Garden Partners<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1820"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}