ACROSS THE GENERATIONS: Fourth grade students from Johnson Park Elementary School have begun working with residents of Elm Court and Harriet Bryan House to tend and enlarge a community garden. (Photo by Mike Maloney)

An intergenerational gardening project is in full swing at 300/310 Elm Road, where Johnson Park Elementary School (JP) fourth-graders are working with residents of Harriet Bryan House and Elm Court to make things bloom.

Spearheaded by Mapleton Nursery landscaper Mike Maloney, the project began two years ago with the creation of gardens using donations from local businesses. Last year Boy Scout Troop 43 helped with additional raised garden beds for residents who rely on wheelchairs for mobility, and others who are unable to plant on traditional ground plots.

Now, guided by teachers Stephanie Landis, Melanie Miller, and Tiffany Worden, with an assist from parents Elizabeth White and Tina van der Schaar, youngsters from JP are visiting the site on a weekly basis to tend the garden.

“It’s a great project,” said Social Worker Fay Reiter. Mr. Maloney’s report of a sizable new donation this winter inspired her to call JP Principal Bob Ginsberg. “He said ‘yes, yes, we would love it,’” she reported.

Elm Court, which opened its doors in 1985 with 88 one-bedroom and studio units, 9 of which are designed for the mobility impaired, was designed to serve Princeton’s low-income elderly residents.

Opened in 2007, an adjacent building, Harriet Bryan House, provides 67 one-bedroom apartments for very low income elderly residents.

Activities at the residences have typically included holiday parties, bingo, health screenings. Now, there’s gardening.

Gardening holds a special place for many of the residents, Ms. Reiter said. Although some of them speak only Mandarin, “everybody just communicates beautifully and that’s the beauty of this project.”

Thanks to students’ weekly visits at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesdays (or on Fridays, in case of rain), current plans include doubling the size of the garden. Organizers are also looking forward to bringing the students and residents together to cook some of the vegetables and enjoy community meals together. Just last Wednesday they planted bok choy and scallions.

Why fourth graders? “We needed kids who were old enough to do the work and also engage with the residents,” said Mr. Ginsberg. “We also needed kids who’d be around for the harvest the next fall,” he added.

For more information visit www.thetwo-thousandtencommission.org.