NHS Greenhouse Opens To Students

By Eliza Hallabeck

Roughly two weeks after Newtown High School students were allowed inside the school’s new greenhouse since its construction, NHS instructor George Bachman oversaw his NHS Greenery students helping to make the new space home on Wednesday, January 18.

He doled out chores for the students to accomplish during their class, like sanding and painting cabinets and organizing the shed outside the new building.

“This is a much nicer facility than the other one,” said Mr Bachman between helping students. “That other one worked fine for us, but this is head and shoulders above that one.”

Students in the NHS Greenery program, Mr Bachman said, plant seeds, design hanging baskets, are responsible for the culture and care of the plans, selling plants, and more.

“This is their greenhouse and I want them to have some input as to how it is set up,” said Mr Bachman.

The previous greenhouse was rendered unusable after being moved during the Newtown High School expansion and renovation project.

The concrete floor with drains is new, as are other built-in features of the facility. But along with all the “new” is also 15 years worth of equipment and more accumulated during the last greenhouse’s time, such as a sign that reads, “Newtown Greenery: ‘A Blooming Business.’”

The cement lining the walls will remain pristine longer than the plastic walls of the old facility did, Mr Bachman said, and the “pride and joy” of the facility is an energy curtain.

“This curtain automatically closes as needed, and it preserves the heat in the greenhouse overnight or on cloudy days it will close,” said Mr Bachman. “It has a payback period of about five years. It saves that much energy.”

Another feature of the new greenhouse are lights that duplicate day and night lighting. Mr Bachman said the lights can be set to give off just the right amount of daylight needed for certain plants.

The old facility, Mr Bachman said, had a crushed stone floor, which allowed algae and weeds to grow.

“Now with this new concrete floor, at the end of each and every day we can go through, we can vacuum it, we can sweep it, and make sure that the greenhouse stays nice and clean,” Mr Bachman said.

Mr Bachman also said he expects another two to two-and-half weeks will pass before the space can be used to start growing plants.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in here yet,” said Mr Bachman. “We undid 15 years worth of work, stored it away for two-and-a-half years, and now we are trying to put it all back together in as quick of a period of time as we can.”

He said everyone associated with the greenhouse is looking forward to getting it up and running again.

While he has his fingers crossed that the NHS Greenery program will be ready to sell Angel Wing Begonias and more by the spring, he said he is certain the program, which sells plants to both NHS community members and members of the Newtown community, will be ready by the fall and next spring to sell the supplies of plants that once grew in the last greenhouse.

“We’re just looking forward to getting back into the grove,” said Mr Bachman.

Mr Bachman also said customers to NHS Greenery will notice an improved atmosphere with the new greenhouse, as “the other greenhouse was very much on its last legs.”