Eli's House Port Salerno Elementary School Garden

Program Type: 
Garden Classrooms
Grade Level/Age Group: 
Upper Elementary, Lower Elementary, Kindergarten
Number of Individuals Program Serves: 
1,000
Year Founded: 
2014
About the Program: 

The Eli's House Port Salerno Elementary (PSE) School Garden is a multi-bed garden that serves the students of PSE, a K-5 grade school in Stuart, FL.  Started in 2014, the PSE Garden provides each grade with its own raised bed and the students are able to choose what to grow from an extensive approved list of fruits, vegetables and herbs.  PSE also hosts a Garden Club for students.

The PSE garden features: beef tomatoes, jelly bean tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, bush beans, peas, pole beans, 4 different types of lettuces, green peppers small and large, spinach, egg plant, chocolate mint, parsley, chives, peppermint mint, rosemary, lima beans, okra, cilantro, onions, cabbage, watercress, spinach and strawberries. 

The PSE Garden provides many lessons for the PSE students in science, math and writing.  Students have been learning about:  living things and nonliving things, the life cycles of plants and animals, data collection, recording and charting data using pictures and words, measuring, estimating, comparing, and writing about real world experiences.

Once harvested, the fruits, vegetables and herbs are shared with the PSE students, Garden Club students and the cafeteria manager.