School Garden- What Can Be Accomplished in One Day!

Here's a  few photos to show what a school garden committee can accomplish in one workday!  Thirty parents and teachers showed up to break ground on the school garden this Saturday at San Gabriel School.

 

Lyn Lochridge from the MG class of 2008 came to learn and help instruct parents, kids, and teachers in water systems and water control.  She worked with the kids, showing them how water came down from the hillside to run off into the garden. Demonstrating why we needed our trench to guide the water and not flood the garden. She and the kids collected rocks to fill the trench from the site.

 

Cindy Muther was able to be a foreman and give directions on ground cover cloth, mulch and its uses,  DG for pathways and handicap access, fence construction, and composting and compost bins from pallets. Both of them answered numerous question from adults concerning their garden problems and how Garden Based Learning worked. It was a very successful day!

The only thing that wasn't accomplished was building the raised beds and stringing the fence wire.  Cindy brought examples from the GBL workshop on raised bed construction so everyone knows what it should look like and how to do it in their own gardens. There will be another workshop on December 6th to build the beds and finish the fence.

 

 

 

The circle will be a native plant and butterfly garden. Along the edges will be an urban forest, cut flower garden, and native plants. The pine tree in the corner was planted after I left by the kids. It is the first tree donation for the forest. Apple and pear trees will be planted on the fence line.

Five parents and teachers returned on Sunday to finish spreading the DG. They worked an additional 3 hours to complete as much of the garden as they could for the kids to see Monday morning at school. An amazing job! You can see the compost bin in the back.

Photos and details were submitted by Cindy Muther.  For more Garden Based Learning Photos, please check out our internal album on the Master Gardener VMS website.

Thank you Cindy and Lyn for sharing with us and sharing with the children in your community!

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