Spring Show to feature our Ultimate Schoolyard Garden

LandDesign has come up with this garden design

Schoolyard gardens have made the Big Time, thanks to the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show and the Catawba River District.
The 2014 show next February will feature the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden – and we do mean ultimate! Imagine hanging gardens, international gardens, hydroponic plants, a greenhouse, a fish pond, farm animals, composting with worms and even more, all co-existing in a 30-by-30-foot exhibit.
River District Executive Director Edna Chirico has brought together an extensive team of partners for the project:  Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Gaston County Schools, Mecklenburg Health Department, Mecklenburg Food Policy Coalition, Mecklenburg & Gaston Cooperative Extension, Friendship Gardens, 100 Gardens and many others.
With interest in schoolyard gardens soaring, Chirico expects this new display to have many visitors during the show’s two-weekend run. More than 100 Gaston and Mecklenburg schools now have vegetable gardens, and another 50 say they are planning to add them.
Visitors will be able to see concepts first-hand and use smart phones and pads to tap a wealth of additional information via streaming video and websites.

Entrepreneur Pavilion 

Student entrepreneurs with products related to gardens will also get a place to shine at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show. The Entrepreneur Pavilion, created by the River District and its partners, will serve as a mini arts and crafts gallery for products developed by both public and private schools in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties.
The goal is to encourage creativity and give students real-world experience in fields ranging from product development to marketing and sales. Proceeds from product sales will go to support schoolyard gardens at the students’ schools.

Sponsors and volunteers needed

As you can tell, this project needs extensive sponsorship and many volunteer hands between now and February. To learn more about how you can help, or how your school can create products for the Entrepreneur Pavilion, email Edna Chirico, Executive Director of the Catawba River District.

Learn more

• The Southern Spring Home & Garden Show will take place Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28-March 2 at the Park Expo and Conference Center in Charlotte. Learn more at Southernshows.com.
• Learn more about the Ultimate Schoolyard Garden and Entrepreneur Pavilion, at catawbariverdistrict.org.
• CLICK to download an Ultimate Schoolyard Garden sponsorship packet.