Harvesting History Spring Scrapbook
- Friends of Clermont
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
It’s been an eventful spring for our Harvesting History program! Check out our spring scrapbook below.
What did our garden grow?
This spring, our Harvesting History volunteers planted 33 different botanicals in our garden, including artisanal greens (arugula, chickweed, claytonia, French sorrel, kale, lettuce [buttercrunch, little gem, romaine], mache, pea shoots, purslane, and spinach), herbs and aromatics (basil [Genovese and Thai], dill, garlic scapes, lemon balm, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, parsley [curly and flat-leaf], and oregano), flowers (borage, daffodils, lavender, marigolds, snapdragons, and violas), and vegetables (broccoli [Chinese sprouting], peas [snow and sugar snap], and turnips [Hakurei]).
In just three months, volunteers harvested over 27 pounds of fresh produce for the Germantown Community Cupboard and the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen in Hudson. That’s 33 bunches of salad mix, 14 floral bouquets, 7 heads of artisanal lettuce, and 70 pints of assorted fresh produce. Thanks to our volunteers’ hard work and dedication, we’ve managed to double our harvest compared to this time last year!
Buttercrunch lettuce Buttercrunch lettuce & Harukei turnips Kale Nigella flower Snapdragons Sugar snap peas Pea shoots & buttercrunch lettuce
If you or someone you know needs food assistance, please visit the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York to find your nearest food pantry or soup kitchen.
Meet our team!
Our Harvesting History program would not be possible without the dedication of our team.
Horticultural Technician Leslie Reed creates the “master plan” for our garden every season, ensuring that there is always something to harvest. She is our lead educator for the program, teaching elementary-aged children how to grow their own food, in addition to lessons on climate science, art, creative writing, meteorology, entomology, and more! She also collaborates with our program partners, such as In-Flight Inc. and Operation Unite's 4-H Freedom Farmers.
Horticultural Aid Tara Barrett assists Leslie in our Teaching Garden, co-leading volunteers regarding planting and harvesting, as well as overall garden maintenance. As a former Harvesting History volunteer, Tara has been involved with the program for over 2 years.
Friends of Clermont Advancement Manager Emily Meyer works alongside Leslie, Tara, and our volunteers in the Teaching Garden, assisting with planting, harvesting, and packaging the fresh produce. Emily hand-delivers our donations to local food banks in Columbia County. She is the program’s photographer, documenting our garden through the seasons. Emily also writes, designs, and plans the program’s social media content and blog posts.
Volunteer Lorrie Renz has been volunteering with the program for over a year, diligently assisting Leslie and Emily with planting, harvesting, and packaging produce as well as assisting Tara with overall garden maintenance.
We’re looking for volunteers to join our team!
In the classroom
This spring, we held over 24 program sessions, reaching 367 schoolchildren and 189 adults. Programs ranged from building your own terrarium, growing microgreens, how to read a seed catalog, starting seedlings, crafting wet felted flowers, creating your own marbled paper bookmarks, and more!
Wet felt flowers Wet felt flowers
4-H Freedom Farmers 4-H Freedom Farmers 4-H Freedom Farmers
Are you a teacher looking to expand your students’ knowledge of seed science through hands-on experiences? Contact info@friendsofclermont.org to learn more.
What’s next for Harvesting History?
At Harvesting History, we’re eagerly looking forward to a busy summer season and our ongoing collaboration with local summer camps. Campers will engage in a variety of food and garden-centric activities, including making naturally flavored ice cream, creating natural food dyes, creating seed paper and nature journals, and making smoothies on a bike-powered blender!
In the Teaching Garden, our team is hard at work, planting a variety of summer crops including basil, tomatoes, peppers, and beans. We are also preparing our garlic crop for harvest.
Want to support Harvesting History?
When the Harvesting History program first began over a decade ago, it served 100 children. Today, it serves over 1,000 youth, seniors, and adults throughout Columbia and Greene counties. Consider donating to ensure that this wonderful program can continue to provide engaging educational programming for all ages, free of charge.
