Growing responsibilities

Jillian Duncan, left, Angelina Derry and Jordan Bonner stand in the garden they and their classmates have established at Fulton High School. The first fruit of their labors — a strawberry — is seen at lower left. Eventually, the club hopes to sell the garden's crops at the Fulton Farmer's Market.
Jillian Duncan, left, Angelina Derry and Jordan Bonner stand in the garden they and their classmates have established at Fulton High School. The first fruit of their labors — a strawberry — is seen at lower left. Eventually, the club hopes to sell the garden's crops at the Fulton Farmer's Market.

A mere two weeks ago, there was nothing between Fulton High School and Industrial Drive but a patch of grass.

Now there's a garden bursting with baby plants and bustling with busy students.

"We pretty much did everything during the last week of school," said Jillian Duncan, who will be a senior next year. "If we didn't have finals during a particular hour, we'd come out and plant. We finished it the last day of school."

The Fulton High School Community Garden was established using a $500 grant from the Fulton Public Schools Foundation. Student members of a gardening club at FHS will maintain the garden and ultimately sell off the fruits and vegetables that grow there.

The garden got off to a rocky start - literally.

"All those rocks piled over there, we pulled them out of the garden," Duncan said, gesturing to a heap of stones piled to one side.

Tilling proved a challenge.

"It was kinda rainy, and there was dead grass in there that wrapped around the tines of the tiller," said Tyler Helton, a FHS science teacher and the club's supervisor. "I actually broke a tine on a rock."

A community member brought in a tractor to churn up the soil and add in compost and manure. Helton and the students hope to test the dirt and find out what other soil amendments need to be added.

Between a chilly spring and a busy school year, the garden got pushed to the back of students' minds.

"In April we were like, 'Oh wait, the garden's a thing,'" Duncan said. "We had to scramble."

The scramble paid off. Plants are poking out of the dirt all over the garden plot: strawberries, zucchini, lettuce, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelon, herbs and two kinds of squash.

"If you think of something, we probably have it," junior Angelina Derry said. "We had a lot donated."

Students are already doing battle with challenges like heat and the deer that seem to get a kick out of trampling through the garden. They're saving up for a proper fence, senior Jordan Bonner said.

"I have a lot of plants at home, so I thought this would be easy," Derry said. "It wasn't."

She's had to face a challenge of her own.

"I'm getting over my fear of bugs," she said.

Helton hopes it's a learning opportunity for all the students who participate.

"Most of the kids in this club live in Fulton and haven't had the opportunity to garden," Duncan added.

Donations are welcome - aside from a fence, the students hope to acquire a small shed and more tomato cages. Get in touch and follow the garden's growth by emailing [email protected] or on Facebook. Watch the Facebook page for announcements about when produce will go on sale.