BERNE — An after-school program started last year at Berne-Knox-Westerlo has put down roots and is blossoming.

The BKW Connections after-school gardening program allows elementary and high school students to explore horticulture and also learn valuable team work and planning skills. Produce from the garden, located behind the elementary school, is delivered to Hilltown food pantries.
"We had a lot of produce that was almost sometimes overwhelming. We had a lot of tomatoes and a lot of beans last year," said Bonnie Conklin, a BKW elementary teacher.
"The point of the garden is to have this partnership with the resources in the community and to share the resources," said Linda Berquist, who runs BKW’s alternative education program.

Spearheaded by the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Voorheesville, the program was recently awarded a $250 grant from the Home Depot through the National Gardening Association.

Cornell donated two carts, which are used to organize and store tools. Cornell will also be matching the grant money, said Conklin.

Money will be used to purchase flowers to be placed around the garden’s perimeter and for children-sized tools, said Conklin.
"It teaches not only gardening skills"but also teamwork, self-esteem, and cooperation," said Matthew Canuteson of Families Together in Albany County.
Though torrential rains last June caused flooding throughout the Hilltowns, the garden wasn’t affected. It’s location atop a hill, Canuteson said, is "ideal" for a garden and allows for good drainage.

BKW students knew a lot about gardening, shared information with each other, and had the garden up and running quickly, said Berquist.

High school students educate the younger students, said Berquist. Last year, high-schoolers put down mulch, planted, and developed a plan for the types of produce and flowers they would grow.
"It’s their work to get it started," said Berquist, adding that the high-schoolers lay the foundation.
"That’s the tricky part," she said. "If the high-school students weren’t involved in the project, the garden probably wouldn’t exist," said Berquist.
Elementary students, who maintained the garden last summer — hoeing, weeding, watering, and picking vegetables — will probably be more involved in planting this spring, said Conklin. Elementary students learned about Native-American customs, and planted "The Three Sisters" — corn, squash, and beans, Conklin said.

Last fall, they grew Indian corn and pumpkins, and made a Native-American scarecrow out of turkey feathers, she said.

Donations have aided the program. Berne’s highway department donated mulch; the True Value in East Berne, Conklin said, is donating stain for a picket fence, planned to go up in May.

Conklin said the project organizers are looking for volunteers to put up the fence in May and for donations of paint, and posts; they are planning to decorate the garden with the school’s colors, she said. The fence, she said, will be painted maroon, and yellow flowers will be planted around the garden’s perimeter.