Posted on May 31, 2016 at 10:04 AM by Allan Warren

In mid-April, Franklin Pierce School District’s Natural Science Resource
Center (The Farm) was awarded a $200,000 grant to support efforts to
deliver high quality produce from the farm to school cafeterias year round.
Our Veggie Co-op program, a community food project driven by volunteers,
is hosted at The Farm and will likewise benefit from these grant dollars.
Harvest Pierce County is a proud partner with the School District and The
Farm and is excited to see this initiative continue to grow and prosper.
Special thanks to Sly Boskovich, Matt Price, Lisa Chatterton, and Robin
Heinrichs for their hard work in preparing this successful grant application!
The grant will fund:
- Retrofitting and modernizing a 30x60ft greenhouse on The Farm to be
used by Veggie Co-op and students.
- Installing a GAP certified wash station for The Farm including a bubble
washer, root washer, spray tables, and sinks to be used by Veggie
Co-op and students.
- Purchasing 300 new harvest and storage bins.
Additional high tunnel coverage on The Farm to allow for growth of
fresh veggies over the winter months.
- Building a Large “teaching greenhouse” (45x100ft) on the Washington
HS/Keithly MS campus that will allow students to grow fresh salad
greens and microgreens for their cafeterias on site, as well as
provide outdoor classroom space.
- Purchase equipment for nutrition services to make processing and using
farm produce easier.