Community Reaps Benefits from Chesak, Martin Gardens

Bill Heiden takes his role as the beautification and gardening chairperson for the / PTA to heart.

The 49-year-old Huntley dad, who holds a bachelor’s of science degree in biology, started his own vegetable garden when he was just 11 years old.

Now Heiden is sharing a lifetime of gardening experience and knowledge with the students at May Chesak and Hannah Martin elementary schools, as well as with local Boy Scouts.

Heiden and his troops will be on hand from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday as the Chesak/Martin PTA hosts its annual Garden Walk at the schools. Martin School is located at 10910 Reed Road, and Chesak School is located next door at 10929 Reed Road.

The public is invited to the free event to see what’s blooming at the schools’ nationally recognized Butterfly Garden, which was first planted years ago between the two schools.

The public is also invited to stop out and see what’s “growing on” in the new 800-square-foot Chesak Veggie Garden. Started this spring on the Chesak Elementary campus, the garden is already helping supply fresh produce for the Grafton Food Pantry.

Boy Scouts from Troop 167 have been planting, hoeing, harvesting and continually maintaining the garden this summer to earn gardening merit badges.

At the Garden Walk, Heiden will explain the work required on an ongoing basis to support both locations. The Boy Scouts, who planted many of the vegetables from seed, will share what they’ve learned working on the Chesak Veggie Garden and the good it brings to the school and community.

Nationally Recognized Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden is adorned by a walking path, benches, butterfly houses and up to 40 native plant species. Its peak blooming season starts around July 4 and lasts three weeks, Heiden said.

“The purpose of this whole garden is to give the kids exposure to what it used to look like here years ago,” Heiden said. “Research shows that kids learn more when they are exposed to the plants in real life, rather just learning about them in the classroom.”

The Butterfly Garden is filled with a variety of prairie grasses, milkweed, curious-looking cup plants that hold water for insects and bloom in bright yellow, perhaps nature’s way of attracting the insects, Heiden said.

Walking through the pathway, visitors will find clusters of red royal catchfly, spiderwort with blue flowers that open with the sunlight and close at night, dock weed whose leaves are harsh like sandpaper and once were a delicacy for roaming buffalo.

The Butterfly Garden has been honored by two national certifications.

The National Wildlife Federation named the garden a Certified Wildlife Habitat as it provides the basic habitat elements needed for wildlife to thrive: Food, water, cover and places to raise young, Heiden said.

Monarch Watch, run by the University of Kansas, certified and registered the garden as a Monarch Waystation. To meet certification requirements, the garden provides milkweed, nectar sources and the shelter needed to sustain monarch butterflies as they migrate through North America, Heiden said.

Heiden said the garden regularly attracts monarch, swallowtail and painted lady butterflies. It also draws dragonflies, praying mantises, birds, and mice -which are helpful to the soil.

Chesak Veggie Garden

The Chesak Veggie Garden was tilled this past spring, spearheaded by Chesak kindergarten teacher Kristina Hodge and Principal Chuck Lamb, Heiden said.

School children and staff planted potatoes, pumpkin and watermelon plants.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 167 planted onion sets, cabbage, broccoli and apple trees. To earn their gardening merit badges, they are required to raise, care and harvest five fruit and vegetable plants from seed, Heiden said.

For that, the boys sowed lettuce, corn, endive, raddishes, tomatoe, cucumber and cantaloupe seeds. The plants are thriving, about one week behind schedule due to the recent rainy weather, Heiden said. 

"It's their responsibility to help all through the growing season," Heiden said. "We are trying to expose the kids to agriculture and show them how food gets to the table."

The boys are permitted to take some of the fruits and vegetables of their labor home with them. The rest of the crop will be donated to the Grafton Food Pantry.

The troop has already made two fresh produce donations to the pantry this summer, Heiden said. The Veggie Garden is a continuous project for the scouts as they will replace harvested plants with new seeds. There will be plenty of things growing come fall when students returned to school, he said.

"It's a great experience," said Boy Scout Matthew Clemetsen. "You start with a seed, and it becomes something big, and you can actually do something with it."

More information about the Chesak/Martin gardens, the Beautification Committee, gardening tips and future garden plans for the schools is available at the Chesak/Martin PTA website.