School or Community Site
South Portland Middle School
Physical Address
120 Wescott Rd
South Portland, Maine 04106
Contact Name
Rachel Healy
Email
healyra@spsdme.org
Category
Vegetable and herb Garden, Flowers and ornamentals
When was your garden project started?
Summer 2026
What type of facility hosts your garden?
Community Middle School
What programs does your garden project include?
Outdoor education, planting, harvesting, cooking
Does your garden have a paid coordinator?
Yes
Who volunteers in your garden?
Parents, community members
How is your garden project funded?
School club funding
What community connections do you have?
Volunteers from the South Portland Resilient Yards Project will join us this fall for a planting day, as well as teaching the student group gardening skills and other seasonal information such as the role of native plants in winter. In addition, SPMS is a community school, which provides us with unique opportunities to involve the greater South Portland community in future events such as harvesting, cooking demonstrations with vegetables from the garden, arts and crafts with plants, etc.
Who tends the garden when school’s out?
After school club, teacher coordinator
What are your future goals?
Student participation in the gardens is evolving and increasing this year. In the fall the Outdoor Club will harvest the gardens, clean up the beds and prepare them for winter, learn about other school gardens in the area, plant fall bulbs, and plan for spring planting. In the winter we will create education materials, posters, etc. to share information about the gardens and native pollinators with the school community. We will also explore a potential composting program at the school. In the spring, students will open up the gardens, plant new seedlings, weed, water, and host gardening opportunities for the greater school community.
What is your most significant need?
Maintenance of the wooden boxes, repairing the irrigation system, gardening equipment, compost, soil, seedlings
