In April, a group of teachers and students from the Biology Club set about planting a vegetable garden on the Saratoga campus. With the students’ help, environmental science teacher Jeff Sutton, English teacher Ben Spencer-Cooke, biology teacher Kate Schafer, physics teachers Miriam Allersma and Mark Brada, and US community service director Kerry Enzensperger planted the garden that Enzensperger hopes will be maintained by the gardening club she plans to establish during the 2009-10 school year.

“I think we all would like to have students have the experience of knowing where their food is coming from,” Schafer said. “Also, there are so many environmental problems around the way that we are currently growing and raising our food that even the small amount of produce that we can provide to the kitchen will make a small contribution to reducing our environmental footprint.”

Foods planted in the garden include cucumbers, melons, peppers, tomatoes, beans, lettuce and sunflowers. When the garden is ready for harvest, Schafer said, they will likely be donated to the kitchen staff.