May 2024

This month’s featured garden club is a perfect example of how a garden club can be the key

factor in sustaining a school garden effort. It is also a unique example of garden leadership where the school nurse has chosen to be the garden lead rather than a classroom or exploratory teacher. Abraya Johnson, MPH, BSN, RN, NCSN, views her involvement with the garden at G.W. Carver Elementary as an effort to be proactive with students regarding healthy choices, especially as they relate to fresh, local produce and nutrition.

School name: G.W. Carver Elementary

Club advisor: Abraya Johnson

Q. When does the garden club meet?

A. We started later in the fall last year, but hope to get started earlier this year. The students helped harvest the sweet potatoes in the fall, which was a really fun way to start. We are going to try to plant some cucumbers and squash for fall harvest. We take a break during the coldest months. 

Q. Who gets to be in the garden club?

A. This year, we’ve narrowed it down to fourth and fifth graders. When we included third graders, they were often squirrely and didn’t want to stick with the work or the activities. The spread in ages was difficult and it helped to pare down the group. In the past, I worked with all grades, but in small groups of 4 to 6 kids.

Q. How do members join the garden club and how many students do you serve? 

A. We’ve had several different structures during the three years we’ve had the garden club. The first club included 75 students who were in the after school program that was operated by the Boys and Girls Club. This year the teachers invited students to participate. We started with 15, but it has been pared down to 10, which is a really nice number. Next year, we plan to let the students apply. Depending on how much interest there is, we may have two separate groups.

Q. How does the club use the garden? 

A. We do a variety of activities. Every week there are some maintenance activities, such as 

planting, weeding and watering. I also plan learning activities that include seed collection,

pollinators, bug discovery, composting (worm and general), tastings, social emotional components, etc.

Q. What does the club do with the harvest?

A. Several things:

• Tastings: the sweet potatoes are so much fun to taste. The teachers who sign up to help with the harvest also get to have tastings. I share a video I made at home preparing the sweet potatoes and then the students get to taste it at school. I try to align other tastings with the learning standards. For example: First Peas to the Table can connect to weather; Kindergarten farm visits dovetail with strawberries or pumpkins; and fourth grade nutrition suits any tasting experience from the garden.
• Weekend food bags: I send a request form home in the food bags and families who submit a request will get produce when in season.
• Popup Farmers Markets: We set up the harvest for sale in the carpool line or at family events.
• Community Food Pantries: We do a lesson on food insecurity and donate the harvest.

Q. What does the garden team look like and do you use any volunteer groups? 

A. We have three other staff who volunteer to help with the garden club; our counselor, ESL teacher and a second grade teacher. It has been a great mix and really helps with management. We had a parent volunteer in the fall and she was fantastic. Over the summer, we usually rely on coordinated garden workdays when parents come to help and some church groups volunteer.

Q. Do you utilize fundraisers or sponsorships to support the garden? 

A. So far, we have secured grants and used the money that we earned from the carpool line farmers markets.

Q. What are the benefits of the garden club?

A. I love seeing the kids get so involved in the growing of their food. Students are so much more likely to try something they grew. I have seen this so often. Kids will say kale is “nasty” and then ask me for the recipe for the kale salad or smoothie they tried. I also can see how engaged the students are. During the school day students who are anxious or having behavior issues will ask to go to the garden to calm themselves.

Q. Share any success stories or memorable experiences related to the garden club.

A. The best thing for me is seeing kids eating what they grow and really engaging with nature. A couple weeks ago the club asked what was growing and asked what they could taste. Their favorite was the Swiss chard. They ate it by the handful. We cooked it the next week and honestly, they preferred it raw. This past week, Doug came over and the kids did a bug detective hunt. We borrowed some iPads and they went around the school looking for bugs. When we were finished we discussed what they ate and how they impacted the garden. It was so much fun.

One theme I want to point out from this series of articles on garden clubs is the sense of ownership a club can facilitate that will ultimately provide stability and sustainability for a school garden. Let us know if we can help you and your school establish a school garden club. Contact Doug Vernon at dpvernon@ncsu.edu.

Debbie Roos has been an agent with NC Cooperative Extension in Chatham County since 1999. She is an esteemed resource for her knowledge and passion for pollinator conservation. She maintains a demonstration garden, “Pollinator Paradise,” where she holds regular tours and captures beautiful educational photos. If you can’t visit the garden, check out her website, Growing Small Farms for captioned photos and additional resources. We interviewed Debbie and toured the garden to share an expert take on the importance of pollinators and native plants. 

1. Why are pollinators important to us? 

Debbie says, “Pollinators are vital to both our food system and our natural ecosystem. You’ve probably heard that every third bite of food we eat is pollinated by an animal, be it insect, bat or bird. We may not starve to death without pollinators, because many grain crops are wind pollinated; however, we would have a very boring diet since our fruits and vegetables are pollinated by bees. Also, natural ecosystems, including songbirds and other wildlife, are dependent on fruits and berries and nuts that rely on pollinators.”



2. Who are our major pollinators in NC? 

Debbie says, “There are many types of pollinators: bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and hummingbirds, for example. Bats can be pollinators as well, but not in North Carolina. The bat species in NC eat insects, not nectar, though other species of bats in other parts of the country are nectivorous. By far, the most important pollinators are bees. While honey bees get a lot of the credit as key pollinators, research in the past decade has begun to recognize how very important our native bees are for crop pollination as well.”

3. Why is it important to pollinators that we grow native plants? 

Debbie says, “Native plants have evolved alongside our pollinators creating a natural synergy. When you think of our food web, 95 percent of terrestrial birds feed insects, primarily caterpillars, to their young. There is a vast difference in how many caterpillars a native plant can support compared to an exotic plant. Our insect larvae, caterpillars, cannot eat non-native plants. Plants have defense mechanisms, phytochemicals, that help them to repel herbivores, like caterpillars. When a plant is from another country, and it’s introduced here, the caterpillars here have not evolved to overcome those plant defenses so the caterpillars cannot eat that plant in many cases. I like to plant native plants that are natural host plants for many different species of caterpillars. There is lots of data about how much more native plants benefit wildlife. One of my favorite resources for this topic is the book, Bringing Nature Home, by Doug Tallamy.”

4. Is it ok to include non-natives in a pollinator garden? 

Debbie says, “Yes, just make sure it is not an invasive plant. In my garden here in Pittsboro, NC, I have over 225 species of plants and 85 percent are native to NC. Non-natives include mediterranean herbs or other Southern region natives (not native to NC, but native to the US). Selecting plants is a very personal choice.”

5. Are specific pollinators attracted to specific plants? 

Debbie says, “Definitely. Each flower has a unique color, shape and size. Those attributes determine the type of pollinators it's going to attract. Pollinators with short tongues can more easily access nectar on a shallow, small flower, where larger pollinators like long-tongued bees or butterflies, can get into bigger, tubular-shaped flowers. 

Some of our bees are generalists and they collect nectar from a wide variety of flowers, while others are specialists; they are only going to collect pollen from certain species of plants. For example we have native squash bees that only collect pollen from flowers in the squash family–they are collecting pollen to feed to their young–and hibiscus bees and sunflower bees are other specialists. 

Another consideration is host plant specificity of butterflies and moths. Butterflies can gather nectar from any kind of flower, but they can only lay eggs and raise their caterpillars on very specific plants. The host plant varies by species; for monarchs, it’s milkweeds, for spice bush swallowtails; they lay their eggs on spice bush or sassafras. 



Ultimately, it’s best to have a diversity of blooms; and that helps support a very diverse pollinator population.”

6. What are your top 5 pollinator plants that are easy to grow in NC? 

Debbie says, “I know you want to keep it simple, but I can’t recommend just five. For a pollinator habitat, you want to have a minimum of 3-5 species blooming each season, so at minimum, I would recommend a top 10 (see below). There are many species and varieties for some of these and mixing and matching is a great way to improve population diversity.”



1. Wild indigo
2. Coneflower
3. Lanceleaf blanketflower
4. Bee balm
5. Milkweed
6. Mountain mint
7. Blazing star
8. Joe-pye weed
9. Aster
10. Goldenrod

“A great resource, Top 25 Native Pollinator Plants for NC, can be found on my website and it also includes nursery locations that grow natives or supply native seeds. I’d also like to share a word of caution. Be careful about where you buy pollinators or how your gardens are maintained. Some pesticides can be broad spectrum, long lasting or systemic. Often you can ask a grower at a local nursery if plants have been treated and/or with what. Remember that it’s counterproductive to use plants that will expose pollinators to dangerous/deadly pesticides.” 

7. Why is it beneficial to leave your garden a little messy through winter? 

Debbie says, “The insects hang out in your garden throughout the winter. Hopefully you’ve heard about the “Leave the Leaves” campaign. Everyone loves to rake up their leaves and throw them away; but those leaves are an active part of your yard's ecosystem. There are red-banded hairstreak butterflies that lay their eggs on the leaves; luna moths and swallowtail butterflies, pupate on the leaves, so their chrysalis is overwintering there; and the leaves provide insulation for bumble bee queens that are hibernating just below the ground. If possible, wait to cut back spent plants in early March; when the earliest bees start emerging and looking for nesting sites.”

8. What advice do you have for beginners? 

Debbie says, “Start small. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, that’s how you learn.” 

These native plants are well-suited to North Carolina's climate and soil conditions, making them ideal choices for creating a vibrant and sustainable pollinator garden. By incorporating a diverse selection of species, you can ensure year-round color and habitat for a wide range of beneficial insects and wildlife.

Print the NC Native Pollinator Plant reference guide.

This lesson uses informational text about composting and the book, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, to cover standards in ELA, Math and Science. The hands-on activity can easily translate into an at-home activity that encourages recycling and composting.

Click here for the lesson plan.