Specialty Crop

Students in the after-school Garden and Greenhouse Club at Evansville Elementary School learn a wide range of topics related to plant sciences, horticulture, gardening, and aquaponics in a greenhouse with raised beds and two aquaponics tanks. The facilities, which also include raised beds outdoor, are used by a variety of classes at the school, and the programming is in collaboration with the Casper Community Greenhouse Project.

Students plant and care for vegetables and fruits, including heirloom varieties, and also flowers. They can share produce with their families, and flowers are also made available to students to take home for occasions such as Mother’s Day. They learn about a variety of other topics, including the importance of pollinators and other beneficial insects, and among the more fascinating insects they have studied in the greenhouse are praying mantises. They help care for fish, which occasionally involves problem-solving, such as measuring pH levels and making necessary adjustments to ensure water conditions are ideal for aquatic life.