BRITT — The Britt community garden is reaching out to a younger demographic: the horticulture class at West Hancock High School.
The class is designing the plots for this year’s garden, which is entering its second year of providing fresh produce to Britt residents.
“With our thrust to keep our youth here, it’s one more way to get them involved,” said Britt Area Chamber of Commerce Director Kathie Smith.
The class, taught by Paul Hauge, will research a variety of crops and plot arrangements. The students determined how many plants could fit in a row and how much space would need to be between each plant, Hauge said.
“We encouraged the kids to think of things people could want and could grow throughout the season,” Hauge said.
The students designed vegetable and flower arrangements for a 110-foot by 70-foot garden, a space that has grown since last year’s dimensions of 70 feet by 70 feet.
“We were astonished how well it did last year and we want to keep that momentum,” Smith said of expanding the garden.
Peas, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, squash and other vegetables have been discussed by the class, as well as useful flowers for the space.
“We were thinking about planting marigolds around the sides to keep deer away,” said Anna Mallen, a member of the horticulture class.
Sunflowers may also be added to add color to the garden, Hauge said.
None of the members of the class were active participants in the community garden last year, or have done much gardening. Smith said she hopes the project will attract other high school students to the garden, just as it has attracted a wide variety of community volunteers.
The students, who are also experimenting with growing their own greenhouse plants, said they appreciate the opportunity to design the garden.
“To be able to help people in the community get fresh vegetables whenever they want,” was one perk of the project, said Scott Glawe.
The garden will be tilled again before the majority of the planting begins in May.
Caitlin Hamilton is a reporter for the Britt News-Tribune, a Lee Enterprises newspaper.
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