A Garden in Every School

 

The Garden at Every School program is a collaborative effort of the Rhode Island Center for Agriculture Promotion and Education, headed by Stuart Nunnery, the University of Rhode Island?EUR??,,????'???s College of Environmental and Life Sciences, and the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association.

Seven Rhode Island schools will be the first in the state to participate in the “Garden at Every School” program. The state has a $280,000 federal grant to seed the program. Each school will receive $2,500 in matching grants, that is, each school must raise $2,500, organize a garden team, begin training and have a gardening plan by September.

Although Rhode Island is densely populated and heavily urbanized, horticulture generates more than $300 million in sales and employs more than 8,000 people in the state. Jim Pagliarini, owner of Central Nurseries in Johnston and member of the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association, said the state has about 450 nurseries.