If you were at Athenian before 2004, you may remember that the ceramics classes were held in the “greenhouse” next to the Main Hall.

Ceramics Studio, 1999

Once the Center for the Arts was created, ceramics moved to its own classroom and the greenhouse was converted back to its original purpose.  After several years, the Athenian garden now has an overflowing greenhouse full of organic produce, as well as a Bounty Garden and chickens.  There are 12 outdoor garden beds and an additional six in the greenhouse.  The produce, herbs, and eggs are used by the school kitchen year round.

Some of the many plants grown throughout the year include, in no particular order:
[col grid=”3-1 first”]
Garlic
Potatoes
Corn
Chard
Amaranth
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Basil
Amaranth
Shallots
Borage
Butternut Squash[/col] [col grid=”3-1″]
Tree collards
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Pole beans
Sunflowers[/col]

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The garden is also home to the industrial composter.  This past year, 4 tons of waste were diverted from local landfills while creating enough compost to grow more than 1,000 lbs of organic vegetables!  The extra compost was used to fill the Environmental Science Bioswale with natural soil amendment.

Watch a video about Athenian’s industrial composter and how students “harvest” compost:

If you are interested in the day-to-day happenings in the garden, check out the The Athenian Garden Blog.  Please note that the garden blog is a functional, digital Farmer’s Almanac: a tool used by resident gardeners to log garden care and plant growth.