Organic Farm Grows at NIKE

Farmers drive from Pennsylvania, New Paltz and Sag Harbor to bring the patrons of the Farmer’s Market at Kennedy Plaza freshest produce — yet a new group of farmers have formed in Long Beach.

NIKE Alternative School is capitalizing on unused space to grow and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables for local consumption, as well as local business. 

Located off of Lido Boulevard, the NIKE grounds are known for their natural salt marshes and abandoned silos that once housed sixty missiles. Now students and teachers are creating a new venue for the land as lush herbs, hardy fruit, and rich vegetables encompass the grounds.

"The first year we decided to have the students plant a simple garden we had very limited success," said Marcia Mule, director of Alternative Programs. "The second year we became a bit more sophisticated, creating raised beds and incorporating the hands-on aspect of evolution into the classroom." 

Creating a garden three years ago was meant to provide the students with a rewarding experience of eating what they grew. However, the gardens took on a life within the school, and eventually incorporated a curriculum around it. 

Reading seed catalogs in English class, surveying planting zones in geography, conducting measurements in math class for the raised garden beds and center gazebo students built, and most recently, learning inventory and marketing skills for their small business at the Farmer’s Market in economics class have proved to be an alternative hands-on method that teachers hope students will adopt outside of the classroom.   

"We're bringing practical applications of geometry into real world problem solving and design," said geometry teacher Mike Dotzler. "It's a fun project that lets the kids get hands-on [experience] and learn outside skills, like construction, that they can use later on."

NIKE's organic farm has been able to transform into a self-sustaining business, using the profits made from the sales at the Farmer’s Market to employee two students at the garden and the market this summer, while supplying tools and seedlings to maintain production.  

And the success of NIKE's garden hasn't gone unnoticed by the school board. The trustees are looking into funding a greenhouse that will enable NIKE to maintain their garden year-round. 

"It's a good enrichment program," said Bernadette Martin, a former farm inspector for Manhattan's GrowNYC program and manager of Long Beach's Farmers Market. "Here are kids who've never had a job that are learning small business experience, how to eat better, and gaining a sense of success that comes from visually seeing something they've created develop."