NEGAUNEE - What used to be an unused patch of grass behind the Negaunee High School is turning out to be a useful tool for high school students and possibly other area gardeners.
In an effort that combined industrial arts classes, biology classes and school service groups, Negaunee is now home to a hoop house - a type of unheated greenhouse.
"We're trying to promote better nutrition and getting closer to your food source," said NHS teacher Helen Grossman, who is helping to organize the project along with fellow teacher Sherri Holmgren.
Using grants from Cliffs Natural Resources and the Negaunee Community Foundation, students and teachers at Negaunee have been working to put up raised beds of soil and plastic hoops to support the plastic covering that will eventually be installed.
"We've taken it as a cross-curricular and club event," Grossman said.
The hoop house covers a 10-foot by 16-foot area and contains four beds.
Once the hoop house is completed, school clubs will be able to grow different types of plants and vegetables while the school's science classes will be able to design and carry out different types of growing experiments.
"They say a hoop house can extend your season up to 10 months total," Grossman said.
That means student volunteers will be able to take care of the hoop house during the summer months and it can still be in use once school starts again in the fall.
"Part of it is to help kids get an understanding of the environmental impact of their food," Grossman said.
If the hoop house is successful, Grossman said the groups behind the project would like to try producing food for use in the district cafeterias in a series of hoop houses or potentially starting a community garden.
Now that the beds are constructed and the basic structure set up, the students will paint the ends of the structure and place the plastic covering and begin planting.
One of the inspirations for the Negaunee hoop house was the larger hoop house that was constructed last year outside of Northern Michigan University's Jacobetti Center. That structure is a collaborative project between NMU, Northern Initiatives and the Marquette Food Co-op that is designed to help Upper Peninsula growers experiment with extending their growing season.
In addition to learning about growing plants and the positive impact of relying on local food, the classes at Negaunee will also be putting together recipe books to learn about what can actually be done with the vegetables they grow. The classes will also be putting together gardening instruction books for future classes to use, Holmgren said.
"It's starting to come together," she said.
Johanna Boyle can be reached at 906-486-4401. Her e-mail address is jboyle@miningjournal.net.
