tomatoes , cucumbers , squash , zucchini and watermelons . As these plants grow and ripen , gardeners get to take home many different fruits and vegetables . It ' s exciting to try a new vegetable or fruit that you ' ve grown with your own two hands . In 2012 and 2014 , Indian Trail students were even able to serve their school-grown lettuce in the cafeteria . What a tasty way to introduce everyone to the wonders of growing part of your own food supply . Nothing can beat the taste of fresh-grown food !
There are also challenges when working to create your own school garden like summer watering and pest control . At Indian Trail , pesticides are not allowed so that students can enjoy the harvest . It ' s important to be careful when controlling pests in your garden , because some chemicals can harm helpful insects like butterflies , bees and spiders . As we learned in the previous pages , pesticides can also cause runoff pollution in our waterways . In order to control pests , students use the old-fashioned method of squashing with their fingers . Their hard work brings in great rewards though , as teachers , students and their families share wonderful memories and grow delicious foods in the least negative way for our environment .
Make the push and start a garden today . The sooner you start , the sooner you ’ ll get to enjoy the benefits that grow from it .
Did you know ?
The Louisville Zoo also has its own garden for animals . We call it a " browse garden ." In this garden , we grow plants like bamboo and weeping mulberry to give our animals fun things to forage ( feed ) on . This sustainable option prevents us from unnecessarily ordering plants that we can grow ourselves .