
In late March, Deming High School teacher George Wertz delivered a greenhouse built by his students to the Columbus Community Garden, which has been operating with raised bed gardens for about a year. Village residents are allowed to tend a raised bed to grow fresh vegetables, then take the vegetables home to eat.
The beds and materials are provided at no charge to participants. Community Garden President Dorian Dodson said the greenhouse will be used to start plants from seeds before moving the plants to the raised beds.
Wertz and his Construction Trades class at DHS built the 10 foot by 12 foot greenhouse from cedar and translucent paneling as part of their regular classroom duties.
The county’s Healthy Kids Healthy Communities program is a grant from the state to address obesity through improving the built environment, food access and education. The county is in its second year of implementing the program.