http://www.pontevedrarecorder.com/index.php/component/k2/item/264-pvpv-rawlings-elementary-growing-own-citrus

PVPV/Rawlings Elementary growing own citrus
Written by Sarah A. Henderson
Thursday, 12 January 2012 17:25



Ponte Vedra Palm Valley/Rawlings Elementary School is having — quite literally — a fruitful school year.

For the last decade, the Ponte Vedra Beach school has grown citrus on its campus via its own citrus grove.

Since its inception in 2001 with the first 10 trees, the grove has grown to 65 orange trees and two grapefruit trees.

“I’m really proud of that seed idea that has turned into something much more,” said the school’s principal, Kathleen Furness.

The grove was started by Furness, an avid gardener, and a small group of parents who were looking for ways to encourage students to lead healthy lifestyles.

Among many initiatives started by the group — such as the installation of various sports courts, a lap requirement before recess free-play, and fruit- and veggie-packed school lunches — was the idea to start a citrus grove on campus that would provide free, fresh fruit to students.

“It’s really important,” Furness said about maintaining a nutritious diet, “and fruit is expensive. We want our children to eat healthy.”

The grove is spread out across the entire school campus, with trees lining open areas such as the bus loop and the second-grade wing.

Furness said the yielding season for the school’s citrus trees begins the second week of November and lasts until about the time students leave for winter break.

She said it takes about three weeks for school staff and the student body of 1,200 children to eat through the 6,000 to 7,000 oranges yielded by the grove and picked by parent volunteers each year.

“When the trees are yielding,” Furness said, “absolutely everyone on campus is eating oranges.”

Furness said she’s even seen teachers as they walk from building to building snacking on the oranges.

The grove is maintained by the school maintenance staff throughout the year. No pesticides are used, Furness said, only fertilizer.

Furness said a local citrus business, Flying Dragon Citrus Nursery in Jacksonville, also consults the school on its grove to help it better manage the grove and ensure it reaches its fullest yield potential every year.

According to the nursery, Furness said, the Ponte Vedra Palm Valley/Rawlings Elementary School grove is the largest citrus grove in Northeast Florida.

The purpose of the grove, she added, is to encourage and highlight the importance of healthy living for children.

And the students at Ponte Vedra Palm Valley/Rawlings Elementary don’t just eat the oranges, Furness said. They occasionally help pick the fruit, too, as does school staff.

“I’ve done quite a bit of picking myself,” Furness said.

sarah@opcfla.com
(904)686-3941

Over the last several months it has been reported on the news programs, much of the veggie-packed school lunches are not being eaten by the students. Much of it ends up in the trash and must be discarded. Especially around the Los Angles school district, its reported that entrepreneurs have been conducting a brisk business selling sodas, hot dogs,and hamburgers with fries to the students just off the edge of the school property. - Millet (353 ABO-)