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Mabelvale Garden Update »Mabelvale Garden Update This past week, Karl Heinbockel and fellow Delta Garden Study interns have had the opportunity to escape the fluorescent lights of the office and work in the bright sunshine at the Mabelvale Magnet Middle School gardens and greenhouse. In spite of the oppressive heat, there is still much to do to prepare for the coming school year at Mabelvale Magnet Middle School. We are removing the residue from last year's crops (and weeds!) and replacing them with a buckwheat cover crop to revitalize the soil. The buckwheat cover crop suppresses weed growth and once tilled in will add important organic material back into the soil. This allows new plants the ample nutrients necessary to blossom with great vigor. Healthy soil has been our focus this summer. In the fall, we will concentrate our efforts at producing a variety of food crops with the help of our students at Mabelvale! In the coming weeks, we will be continuing to clean up and organize the garden and greenhouse spaces so that this school year will be a great one for Delta Garden Study's showcase garden - Mabelvale!

FrontPage Article »See the Progress on our New Gardens! Don't forget to visit our Garden Schools’ webpages for pictures and stories about the progress of our new gardens. Liana, Kevin, Ryan and Cale have been busy developing their sites, planting a late summer garden, and getting to know their communities. Many thanks to all of their community members who have donated materials, equipment and labor!

About The Delta Garden Study »About The Delta Garden Study The Delta Garden Study is a $2 million research study funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service designed to prevent childhood obesity and social risk behaviors, and improve academic achievement, in middle school children in the Delta and Central regions of Arkansas.

Harrisburg Featured Student: Zach Biggers

I have learned lots of stuff from Ms. Jill and Mr. Ryan. I have learned so much that I am actually helping in my Grandpaw’s garden! I love working in the garden. I like it because you get real dirty. Next year, I would like for us to get to eat lots of new salads like we do now, but I would like them every garden day instead of just one day a week! I love to pick weeds and plant vegetables, plus I really like the food.

Harrisburg Garden Progress

After weeks of nothing but carrots and strawberries, we’re beginning the first harvests of our spring crops. Kale, red romaine lettuce, rainbow chard—they’re all trickling into the harvest baskets now, bit by bit. Tomatoes and sugar snap peas have set flowers, which means we’ll be eating on those before too long. We should have some tasty spring meals for the next couple of weeks before the students break for summer.

Garden Program Specialist

Ryan Norman

Farming wasn’t a part of my life until my senior year of college at Hendrix. I was definitely what you would call an academic, and intended to go law school after graduation. But then I chanced upon this collection of essays by Wendell Berry. Berry is a farmer poet in Kentucky that writes about the cultural and ecological shifts in America since WWII.

FoodCorps Service Member

Jill Zartman

Hello! I am Jill Zartman from Huntersville, NC. A graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill May 2011 from Gillings School of Global Public Health. I majored in Nutrition and minored in Chemisty in the school of public health and harnessed a passion for improving health care and serving communities throughout my undergraduate career.

Harrisburg Featured Student: Zach Biggers

Harrisburg Garden Progress

Garden Program Specialist

Ryan Norman

Harrisburg In the News

Harrisburg digs its way to a new garden

School breaks ground on new vegetable garden

As the intervention school Harrisburg Middle School will receive:

FoodCorps Service Member

Jill Zartman

Meet the Staff

Harrisburg Middle School Website