We are excited about the prospects of planting, growing and harvesting our own food. Cathy McElroy, one of our current parents, is an avid gardener and food expert. She has applied her passion and skills to helping build Shortridge’s first edible garden with vegetables being harvested and prepared each week.
Exploring the garden is a great past time with carrots beginning to sprout, tomatoes falling off their vines, aromatic spices, such as basil, wafting through the air, and eggplants ripening in the sun. Cathy has spent a great deal of time cultivating the interior courtyard’s garden, and, with her husband, she also built the large garden boxes located on the south side of the building, off of 34th Street. These garden boxes are now the home of sunflowers, corn and a number of other edible foods. The planting of these boxes was completed by our Life Skills students, who are learning and engaging in the growing process.
These experiences and educational opportunities are invaluable; we continue to study and learn how our foods affect our health and the importance of a healthy diet.
