Cub Scouts beautify Cahaba Elementary garden

A local Cub Scouts troop recently improved the Cahaba Elementary School garden as a project.

The Scouts on Oct. 23 cleared weeds, added a birdhouse and added stepping stones. The garden coming to fruition was a long time in the making. In the fall of 2016, kindergarten teachers Angela Shorter and Marcia Segers approached Principal Joy Tyner with the idea of establishing a garden on campus to enhance the science curriculum for all students. Shorter had recently secured a grant from the Birmingham Audubon Society to design a bird sanctuary and had the idea of creating a pollinator garden around the sanctuary, by planting local plants to draw pollinators that would also provide another food source for the birds.

Shorter also discussed the addition of a vegetable garden box for the community to maintain, in hopes of eventually expanding the garden into a community garden. Shorter wrote and submitted a grant proposal to the Trussville City Schools Foundation and in the winter of 2017 was awarded a $1,000 grant to establish a kindergarten garden on campus. It wasn't until the spring sun warmed the soil in 2017 that the first seeds were planted in a rolling planter and a few plants were potted by two kindergarten classes.

Each year, a new group of kindergarten students is introduced to the garden and adds their touch to it. The number of garden boxes has increased to five from the initial two. Vegetables have been added. Over the years, many parents have donated seeds, plants, soil, tools and other necessities and volunteered their time through the school year and in the summers to maintain the garden and harvest the crops. Many teachers, bus drivers, office workers and community members have had a taste of the garden.

In 2017, a sprinkler system was donated and installed. During the 2020-2021 school year, the virtual kindergarten students used the gardens as a means to connect to the school. They planted a fall salad with their families and maintained and harvested the crops. One student and her mom began painting the boxes to bring color to the area. In 2021-2022, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority – Progressive Pearls of Trussville – a local service organization, adopted the gardens. The ladies of AKA cleared the garden boxes, trimmed the trees and hedges and added some fall plants to beautify the gardens and prepare it for the students. They decided to adopt the gardens as an annual service project and have already been out this fall to work in the area and donate an arbor for the entrance.

– Submitted by Trussville City Schools