Mirna F. Forthofer (left) recently described herself as “fanatic about flowers”. And, the results of her interest and gardening skills are unmistakable in the wonderful bouquets of zinnias and other blooms she assembles as a volunteer for the Green Heart Project at Charleston’s William Enston Home located at 900 King Street. The flowers along with many types of vegetables are sold once a week on a pay what you can basis.
A resident at the Enston Home complex for the past four years, Ms. Mirn’s participation at the urban farm echoes the wishes expressed by founder William Enston in his will written in 1860. The resulting property was built in the 1880's.
Among many other details, he specified, funds be allocated for home gardens to support the health of the elderly residents for whom the buildings were originally planned.
Then, more than 100 years after the original complex of 24 Queen Anne cottages were constructed, Jesse Blom, Executive Director of the Green Heart Project said, “as we were building the farm, we saw the wonderful flowers Ms. Mirna had planted at her home. She volunteered her skills and we invited her to join our team.” Ms. Mirna has been coming Thursdays, year round to plant, cut and assemble bouquets of zinnias in bed # 3 of brilliant, contrasting colors. “Sometimes including sprigs of mint or basil to make the house smell nice”.
Jesse explained recently that zinnias are great pollinators and play an essential role in ensuring the growth of flower-producing vegetable plants like peppers, lettuce and okra” Farmer Sean Murray oversees all the abundant planting beyond what’s contained in Ms. Mirna’s raised Zinnia bed.
Ms. Mirna is originally from Cuba. She recently spoke about how she’s always planted flower gardens at her different homes since emigrating to the United States as a child in 1957 with her family. She was blessed to have been able to share this passion over the years with her late husband (an avid rose gardener himself). They owned a business together in Florida for 25 years providing wedding event and party essentials which is where Ms. Mirna learned her flower arrangement skills.
Ms. Mirna knows she has a green thumb and a passion for flowers “I'm fanatic about flowers,” she said. She completed a four year program held once a week in flower arrangement and balloon art for their business. After retiring, they moved to South Carolina to be near a daughter and into an apartment at the Enston Home about four years ago.
The professional staff of the Green Heart Project, an educational program engaged with 18 Charleston area schools thrives with the help of many volunteers. The Enston site specifically works with children at James Simons Montessori School, Charleston Charter School for Math and Science, Charleston Catholic School, and Compass Collegiate Academy that do not have their own school gardens.
All participating schools follow a semester long, weekly lesson curriculum created by The Green Heart Project. Each school has their own curricular engagement. CCS and CCA come with the same class every week, JSMS brings a different class each week, and CCSMS comes about once per semester. Matters related to flowers are mostly linked, Jesse said, to the lesson on insects “Good Bugs and Bad Bugs”.
Ms. Mirna with her great granddaughter
Now in late fall, the plants in the many raised beds are thriving. A brand new greenhouse is almost completed but while still needing installation of a variety of equipment needed for cooler weather protection of plants, Jesse said it’s currently being used for curing sweet potatoes. He explained that curing heightens the taste of these tubers and helps toughen the potato skins. This process lengthens the time they can be stored. Once the sweet potatoes are cured, they are delivered to students and the cafeteria of the James Simmons School. "The sweet potatoes that are curing in the greenhouse were harvested from our partner schools around Charleston and will be distributed back to those school sites," Jesse said. A total of 815 lbs were harvested. The biggest harvest was 400 lbs from Mitchell Elementary School, which will go back to the school to be served in the cafeteria.
Today, the William Enston property is owned by the City of Charleston Housing Authority. Homes are designated for low and moderate income residents.
The Green Heart Project: www.greenheartsc.org
