FILER, Idaho — For students across the Magic Valley, hands-on agriculture experience is only a greenhouse away. Students at Filer High School's horticulture class are prepping 27 varieties of flowers and veggies for their annual plant sale in mid-May.
- The Filer High School plant sale is on Saturday, May 11.
- Students in Jennifer Commins' horticulture class have grown 27 varieties of flowers and veggies, and have hanging baskets for sale as well.
- in agriculture-rich Magic Valley, most schools have greenhouses to give kids plenty of hands-on ag knowledge.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"Right now, I’m transplanting some of our tomatoes that we have growing here in the greenhouse," Adria Lyne told Idaho News 6. “Specifically are bumblebee yellow tomatoes. We have early girl tomatoes, we have a bunch of different varieties."
Adria is a sophomore at Filer High School.
She - along with junior Cameron Losser have a growing love affair with gardening.
"Just like that, we find like a little hole stick it in hole and just surround it with dirt," Cameron said.
Cameron helped his grandmother plant a garden when he was just a baby.
“When I was younger, we would do a lot of planting like this,” Cameron said. “And now I go off and farm.”
For the past three years Cameron's been working on larger farms around the Magic Valley.
"Every day after school, I'm out in the field working," Cameron said.
This greenhouse was empty in January, and over the last 4 months has sprouted with 27 varieties of flowers and veggies, all for sale in mid-May.
"I just think that it's important aspect for them to learn because not only, you know is it beautiful, that it's also where their food comes from,” said Jennifer Cummins.
Cummins teaches agriculture at Filer High School. She said that now, most schools in the Magic Valley have a greenhouse to teach horticulture.
"Almost every school has a greenhouse, at least one greenhouse, where teach students hands-on and how to grow and propagate and learn about the soil"
Cummins says she's seen students of hers go on to get agronomy and plant science-based degrees.
"They just get a little taste of what that is here and hopefully they expand on it later on down the road," Cummins said.
And for students like Adria, that trip down the road begins right here with her plants.
"I just love the idea of being in the greenhouse,” Adria said. “We had a freshman elective fair and I as the minute I stepped in, I was like ‘I need to be in here, I don't need to be anywhere else. I need to be here."'
