• Welcome to Our Garden!



    garden    
    The Francis A. Desmares School Garden is beautiful!  The school garden was started in 2010 by retired school nurse Kathy Schilder.  The garden was funded by a U.S. Healthy School Grant. It has been financially sustained through fund raisers and donations.  In Spring 2016, we had major work completed through the generous funding from our Desmares PTO.  No district funds have been spent on this project.
     
    Our students, staff and parent volunteers spend endless hours planting, weeding, harvesting and performing weekly maintenance in the garden.  Any maintenance inside our tall garden fence, in our outside classroom under the pergola and around the garden shed is all completed by volunteers.  The pergola and garden shed were funded and built by two boy scouts for their Eagle Scout projects.
     
    The students plant, care and enjoy the vegetables that they have planted with their classmates.  In summer volunteers pick crops and donate the produce to the Flemington Food Pantry. We also have beautiful flowers and several bird houses along the fence area.
     
    In 2016 our garden area became an official Monarch Watch Stop.  We planted a bed of milkweed for the Monarch’s to lay their eggs; we collect the eggs and feed them while the caterpillars start the process of turning into a stunning chrysalis and then a truly awesome Monarch Butterfly. The butterflies are all released in our garden.  We are excited to be watching the soon to be Swallowtails as those caterpillars are munching on our parsley and dill!
     
    There have been challenges along the way but with the hard work from students and volunteers our garden has flourished.  
     
    Sincerely,
    Jane Schnitzer & Chris Grabowich
    Desmares Secretaries & Garden Coordinator Volunteers 
Last Modified on September 21, 2020