DPS Hub Farm Receives Capital Improvements by Croasdaile, Town & Country Garden Clubs

BEFORE:  Dirt floor of the Hub Farm barn.

Photo by Farmer Grant Ruhlman.

Durham Public Schools Hub Farm now has a new cemented barn floor, a new mobile center and a greenhouse on the way in 2018 in large part from over $30K worth of charitable giving from the Croasdaile and Town & Country Garden Clubs of Durham.

 

In 2016, Town & Country Garden Club gave $18K for Hub Farm entry landscaping and a mobile home center. The mobile center was installed this spring. The greenhouse project, in which T&CGC donated $24K, has been deferred until 2018 after the barn is reroofed and all shingling detritus has ceased (since the greenhouse will be erected next to the barn), according to Martha Pritchett Conner.

 

AFTER: New cement floor of the barn.

Photo by Croasdaile Garden Club President Susan Antle.

Martha, a T&CGC member and a Hub Farm Board Member, has been a key driver in local garden club support for the teaching facility since 2014. Farmers Grant Ruhlman and Reid Rosemond also continue to share with garden clubs and greater Durham community their annual needs assessments and strategic planning.  



Last summer a new concrete floor was installed and funded by the Croasdaile Garden Club (a $3,000 gift in 2017) and the Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation.

 

At the September Croasdaile Garden Club business meeting, President Susan Antle reported that the new cement barn floor was hugely appreciated, and that the floor will make a serious impact for all future DPS children's programming. She shared a "thank you note" message from Hub Farm:

 

"The barn is used as an office, gathering space, and packing shed for student-grown produce. Now we can pack and store food in a clean, comfortable and sanitary space. Big impact for the quality of experience that both students and staff have when visiting the farm. The original floor had a hard-packed mud floor that flooded with every heavy rain and was a tripping hazard due to its uneven surface.”

 

 

For more information and how to get involved with the DPS Hub Farm see: thehubfarm.org.