Recently, our Journalism class went to visit students in Mrs. Fleming’s Gardening class. We were asked to get the inside scoop on this wonderful elective! Here is what we gathered:

Ms.Fleming said, “I have been teaching gardening class for nine years. Gardening class was originally called ‘Campus Beautification’ and what we did was basically cleaned the campus. ‘Campus Beautification’ started in advisory, but it has evolved over time.”

We also asked a few students if they enjoyed gardening class here were their responses:

“Yes, I do enjoy gardening class,” said Hugo Cisneros.

Angel Deloera said, “My favorite part of  gardening class is gardening in general!”

“I enjoy gardening class very much,” says Jessica Vendieta.

“My favorite part of gardening is taking care of the chickens!” exclaimed Isaac Clements.

Ms.Fleming continued with, “Mostly all produce we grow goes to the restaurant at Embassy Suites in Napa, California. Earlier this year we had a salsa contest where some chefs from Embassy Suites came to our school to help some students make salsa.”

Graham Zimmerman, chef de cuisine at Embassy Suites Napa, first came to HMS in May 2015 and made a deal to purchase all the school’s  vegetables for use in their restaurant, and any leftover vegetables that the restaurant can’t use are made available to the team members for a donation.

Ms. Fleming also told us that the class sells the eggs that they collect from the chickens to frequent buyers every 13 weeks. The eggs she doesn’t sell she gives to the Embassy Suites.

This wonderful elective is thriving, the students enjoy it, and they will continuously take care of the gardens to make sure Embassy Suites gets fresh produce. They will also take care of the chickens to make sure their buyers have eggs, and they will continue to take care of our campus. Thank you Ms. Fleming and all gardening students!