Union County’s students now have the chance to learn about horticulture and floriculture in much more hands-on ways thanks to the new greenhouse located at the Agriscience Center, which enjoyed heavy community presence at its ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 28.
Horticulture teacher Katie Stafford credits its construction to the support of Union County Schools administration. The project was funded through E-SPLOST, and the facility measures 72 feet by 30 feet. Some of the equipment was bought using funds from the Peach Tax credit.
Continue reading with a subscription.
North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
Cancel anytime.
Previously, Union County High School and Union County Middle School’s horticulture and floriculture students utilized the tunnel house donated by the Chestatee-Chattahoochee Resource, Conservation & Development Council, but the new greenhouse’s climate control means they aren’t limited only to perennials.
Right now, it houses ferns, succulents and other house plants and strawberries. The eventual goal is to build a repertoire of other fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, annuals, perennials and house plants.
“It’s really important for me for my kids to leave here at the end of the year knowing how to grow all of the different types of plants by the time they graduate high school,” said Stafford.
Isabella Stanley, an 11th grader, helped explain what some of the equipment was inside the greenhouse. She and her friends, Charlotte Peters and June Barber, were monitoring the soil inside a concrete mixer. The mixer takes different soils with different properties and mixes them to allow for custom soil to suit the needs of specific plants.
Peters, for her part, is excited about the opportunities the new greenhouse affords students. Now, with the option to grow a wider variety, students can learn about different plants than what was previously only offered in the tunnel house. It’ll also be used to supply plant sales, slated to take place in May.
“It’s a good thing that we finally have it open,” said agribusiness student Conner Stephens, explaining that he and other students have had to wait about three years for the greenhouse to arrive. “If we needed a greenhouse, we had to use the one at the middle school … This is a big blessing.”
The horticulture pathway focuses on a wide variety of knowledge, whether that involves plant biology and business production or how different crops are grown. For the time being, the floriculture pathway involves learning about the flowers themselves and their parts, but Stafford has plans to implement floral arrangement and craft into the syllabus.
Students from both pathways had a chance to come out and use the greenhouse before the ribbon cutting. Aug. 15 marked move-in day, and the kids had a hand in setting up everything, like placing the tables and even fine-tuning the temperature.
Every day since then, they’ve been back to learn more. Daily activities can involve cleaning or learning how to care for the plants. Everything is treated as a learning opportunity. One of the latest realizations came when the students learned how much of a boon it is for the greenhouse to face North and West.
“One day we just sat in there and watched the temperature to see how the sun hit the greenhouse,” revealed Stafford as an example. “It gets equal amount of sunlight from sunup to sundown every day, so that’s been interesting for us to kind of see where the shadows are during the day so we can see where we’re going to put our full-sun plants and our part-sun plants.”
Stafford anticipates January and February to be the busiest months because they require preparation for spring’s upcoming plant sale. It’s also a great opportunity for the students to learn about agribusiness.
“I really want to make sure that we thank administration and maintenance,” Stafford added, appreciative of their roles in supporting the project and getting everything set up for the students.
As part of the event, Union County High School Future Farmers of America Officers led tours, and current and former UCHS FFA members, Union County Young Farmer members, and Union County FFA Alumni & Supporters attended alongside members of the public.
