The new Nelson County High School greenhouse finally has a glass ceiling and walls. NCHS horticulture teacher Margaret Seaman pointed to where the greenhouse’s new concrete floor is outfitted with drains: “Now I can powerwash it down,” she said.
Seaman teaches introduction to horticulture, landscaping, Floral Design I, Floral Design II and Plant Production at the high school. On March 23, her students were independently working on a commission of flower arrangements. Seaman said she prepares students for the workforce in her classes “because if they can listen and learn, I feel like they can get any type of job.”
Seaman showed pictures of the old NCHS greenhouse in 2019, with cracks in the glass and panels sliding down to create gaps. She said the fans stopped working properly after a thunderstorm in 2021 damaged the electrical panels. “So we put shade cloth up on the inside of it to keep it cooler. It would just get really hot,” she said.
Construction of a new greenhouse has been significantly delayed in the past year due to supply chain complications and a manpower shortage. Seaman said the greenhouse originally was expected to be completed by Jan. 1. Chris Tolley, of Piney Ridge Contracting and Construction, updated the school board on the project at its Feb. 25 meeting. “Originally, our greenhouse was supposed to arrive at the end of the year and it kept getting pushed back, pushed back and pushed back. And so we finally received it last week only to find out the manpower was unavailable and they were looking at several months before they could get someone here. But we’re prepared for something like this.”
Read the complete article at www.newsadvance.com.