Renelle Palmer has been hired to manage the Galileo School Garden following Scott Wilson’s retirement this summer. The enthusiasm she has for the position is immediately apparent. “We have a student that moved here from another country, and previously he had never had a peach before. The class came out to the garden one day and we gave him a peach and he bit into it. Even without knowing any English, the look on his face said it all. It was so moving. I’m sometimes asked why I want to do this. The kid’s reaction is why I’m here. We can take the mystery out of where food comes from: it comes from right here, right out of the ground. A green been starts as a flower and then all of a sudden it’s a pod. Every school should have something like this.” Highlights of her first month on the job include using comfrey leaves as a dry mulch to successfully revive an ailing tomato plant and roasting an artichoke she plucked fresh from the garden. As for what’s next, she’s recruiting volunteers and plans to offer community outreach activities in the future.
Meet Galileo’s new gardener!
