Seedlings Project Is Blossoming in Springs
(08/06/2009) After nearly two years of planning and fund raising, the Springs School Seedlings Project is on the cusp of bearing fruit. What began as a notion cooked up by two parents blossomed into a grassroots
 Cindy Realmuto
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effort that members of the entire community have taken part in. The greenhouse, in which a host of programs for the entire school will take place, has arrived, and with a little help from the Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, the kids will be ready to start planting by September.
Springs is not the only South Fork school to build a greenhouse — there has been one in Montauk for years, and the kids at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton have turned their gardening efforts into a farm stand this summer. But at Springs, the edible schoolyard effort has been unique in that the entire project so far has been privately funded, right down to the full-time food educator who has been hired to watch over the facility. In a district with the highest school tax rate in the East Hampton area, that means a lot.
To that end, the largest Empty Bowls fund-raiser to date will take place tomorrow evening at East Hampton Indoor Tennis to support the Seedlings Project and Project MOST, an after-school program that will also utilize the new facility. Rather than serving soup prepared by a handful of local chefs as in past fund-raisers for the project, a slew of restaurants and catering companies will offer up fabulous fare at the benefit, A Taste of Land and Sea, which begins at 7 p.m.
Harbor Bistro, The Lodge, and Estia’s Little Kitchen are just a few of the restaurants that will participate. Anthony Hayes, a D.J., will provide music. Tickets cost $150 and can be obtained by contacting Tim Bryden, the educator in charge of Project MOST, at Tbryden@optonline.net.
Joe Realmuto and Bryan Futerman are the Springs parents and professional chefs who spearheaded the Seedlings project by tossing out their ideas at school board meetings. Both will be in attendance, with food from their respective restaurants, Nick and Toni’s, and Foody’s.
“We have had so many committees and groups, and now it is finally coming together,” said Mr. Futerman on Tuesday, as he moved his gear from the Ladles of Love benefit in Amagansett and began to prepare for tomorrow’s festivities. He credited “our great, wonderful local contractors” for laying the foundation and donating time and materials to the project.
Pat Brabant, a contractor and parent with three kids in the Springs School, is managing the construction. “I’m hoping to build it this weekend, weather permitting,” he said, adding that a few more volunteers with building knowledge are still needed. Anyone interested in helping out can contact Mr. Brabant or Mr. Bryden.
Greg Darvin, who owns Pristine Pools in East Hampton, has been handling the excavation and foundation work. “I went to the Springs School, and I thought they needed a hand,” he said. Other companies, including Bistrian Materials, Tri-tec Electric, McMahon Plumbing, and Schenck Fuels have also stepped up to the plate.
But no one has been more instrumental in offering support and guidance than Scott Chaskey, according to those involved. For the past 20 years, he has run Quail Hill Farm, a community-supported agriculture project in Amagansett. The edible schoolyards and slow food movements, which have been gaining momentum recently, are the crux of what Mr. Chaskey has been doing for quite some time.
“Basically one of our missions is to educate,” he said. “We’ve had 20 years of kids learning here at the farm. We’ve worked with all the schools. To me, this is just an unfolding. We’ve helped plant some of the seeds, and now the schools, thanks to the parents and other educators, are starting to make it really happen.”
Besides offering support on the mechanics of running a greenhouse, Mr. Chaskey has been working side by side with Karen McFarland, who has been hired by Project MOST as the on-site food educator. A chef, gardener, and a Springs parent, Ms. McFarland has been apprenticing with Mr. Chaskey to “learn how this kind of system works and transfer it to the kids,” he said. She will maintain the greenhouse and act as a resource consultant to teachers.
Mr. Chaskey said that the students will be able to start planting winter salad greens right away, and later on, seedlings will be started to plant in an outdoor garden in the spring.
“There may even be a Springs School farmers market,” said Mr. Bryden, who added that he is thrilled that the greenhouse has arrived. “This is an opportunity to provide kids with an alternative form of learning. In this situation, it’s about food and the connection to the planet. We’re calling it an outdoor classroom; it’s a way to really reinforce the learning,” he said.
Teachers have been busy working on plans to work the greenhouse into their curriculum. Three fifth-grade teachers have already received a $2,000 grant from the Greater East Hampton Education Foundation for classroom projects they plan to base around the greenhouse.
“It’s going to be an evolution, and hopefully, in the wintertime we’ll get into the full cycle of growing,” said Mr. Bryden. With all the support the project continues to receive and the commitment of the people who made it happen, “it’s a feather in the cap of the community.”