In late May, students at North Clarion Elementary School planted a garden in conjunction with the National Farm to School Network.

The project culminated into a garden filled with tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, corn, and sunflowers.

On Thursday, September 21, students in grades Pre-K through sixth grade took turns gathering hundreds of potatoes and corn while they enjoyed the warm, late-morning sun. The children then took turns scrubbing the potatoes.

Later, students and teachers were able to enjoy some of the food as french fries were made.

North Clarion Elementary Principal Keith Hastings came up with the idea to grow a garden not long after he took over at the school.

“Once I started looking around, I found some grants we could get, and the more people I called, the more that wanted to be involved,” Hastings said. “Our superintendent (Steve Young) and school board loved the idea, so we ran with it.”

The school garden is truly a community endeavor with Long Acres Potato Farms of Tionesta, Tractor Supply of Clarion, the Wildflower Garden Club of Sligo, and many others being involved.

Long Acres Farms, owned and run by Bryan Beck and his dad, Clair Beck, tilled and prepared the site for the planting of the potatoes and other crops.

Bryan talked to the kids about how potatoes and corn grow, their nutritional value, why weeding is important, and why it’s important to “know where your food comes from.”

The students, along with retired North Clarion History teacher Terry Moore and Wildflower Garden Club members, including Rosie Lawrence and Carol Riffer, helped with planting and harvesting.

The Wildflower Club is also busy in the community, getting grants to plant gardens, taking flowers to nursing homes, providing college scholarships, highlighting the Garden of the Month in Clarion County, and other endeavors.

Tim Preston, the store manager for Clarion’s Tractor Supply store, who has a son in the fifth-grade at North Clarion, helped in acquiring a $500.00 grant for this year’s project; he also donated seed and seed starter kits for next year’s garden.

“This is a great idea, and it’s been fun being involved,” Preston said.

The school was also one of 30 schools in Pennsylvania to receive a state Farm to School $1,000.00 grant.

“We’re planning on a bigger garden for next year, but we’re pretty happy with how this turned out in the first year,” Hastings said.