STEFAN CZAPOROWSKI
Getting our students out in the community to get real world experience is a central mission at WVTHS. This month, I would like to highlight how our students in the Ornamental Horticulture Department have gotten their hands dirty in each aspect of the shop: landscape, arboriculture, and greenhouse activities. Recent student work can be seen around the city with patio construction on the Veteran’s Memorial at Stanley Park, the Danell-Stevens Memorial Monument at East Mountain Country Club, and an outdoor patio at Tekoa Country Club. The students also planted shrubs at Devon Manor, and removed invasive plants and planted vegetables at Yellow Stonehouse Farm.
Students have also been busy growing Poinsettia plants in our greenhouse. Poinsettias will be on sale to the public from November 26-28 between 8:00 am-1:00 pm. Ten-inch plants are fifteen dollars and four-inch plants are five dollars each.
In the spring, students will prepare for our annual Plant Sale the week before Mother’s Day. This year our sale begins on May 7 and runs through May 11 beginning at 8:00 am each morning. Our plant sale is open to the public, and since it is the week before Mother’s Day, it is a great opportunity to pick up a variety of annuals, including geraniums and petunias, as well as hanging baskets, vegetables, and herbs for mom’s garden.
Perhaps the most ambitious initiative for the Ornamental Horticulture Department this school year involves the building of a second greenhouse at the school. Over the past few years, there has been a shift toward growing more fruits and vegetables locally and indoors. With transportation costs rising and risk of storms, drought and other environmental factors pushing up food prices, the need to produce food closer to the consumer has never been greater. Some national food chains are seizing this opportunity and turning to indoor hydroponic food production. A handful of retailers are even experimenting with hydroponic greenhouses on the rooftops of the food stores themselves. Growing hydroponically involves no soil, but rather the nutrients are dissolved in the water in which the roots grow. This has many advantages, including the ability to grow year round with very fast yields.
Recognizing that this cutting edge technique offers great possibilities for our students to gain employment, a new greenhouse was purchased with funds raised from the plant sale held last year. The intended use for our new greenhouse is hydroponic fruit and vegetable production, and this field will be incorporated into the curriculum over the next few years. Starting in November, students will be constructing the greenhouse and getting the systems in place with the goal of production next school year. Once complete, the plan is to open a farmer’s market for the public as well as to provide fresh produce to our Culinary Arts Department. Please watch for updates on this exciting project. Feel free to call our Ornamental Horticulture Department directly at 413-977-3483 for additional information.
Stefan Czaporowski
Principal
Westfield Vocational Technical High School
