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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 10:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
We’re working with several schools in Franklin County, and the Grow And Share program has been well received! We had set a goal to start this year with two schools, and they signed on right away.
The teachers will be using plants and seeds in their lessons, teaching how things grow, where food comes from, and more. We luckily were also able to provide them with coloring books — courtesy of Yummy Designs.
One of the school gardens is going to be created early in 2010. We’ll be tilling up an area about 15 x 20 — give or take a little. The children will grow food, have an end of year picnic, and give away some of what they grow to a local senior center.
The second school is actually working with us to put in four (4) raised gardens! A wonderful local company provided 3-1/2 tons of organic garden soil!! We delivered it yesterday and today. All of the soil was in 40lb bags, and we didn’t have access to a large vehicle so we used a borrowed truck Tuesday and our Honda Element today. It took us about 8-9 trips to move all of the soil the 12 miles from the donor to the school!
- garden soil
This first picture shows the side of the school where we unloaded the soil. You can see the twin piles on each side, as the gardens will be run down both sides of the school. I snapped these pictures on our last trip to deliver soil.
- garden soil
This second photo shows the organic garden soil donated by Old Castle Lawn and Garden. This is some great, rich, dark soil and I think it will give the kids’ seeds and plants a great start.
Future steps will include delivering the landscape timbers (once we get them and arrange delivery) and setting them up at this school.
By March, both of these schools should be ready to plant rich, educational, productive Spring gardens! Hopefully by the time school lets out they will have given away a nice supply of produce to families in their areas.
I especially wanted to write about these gardens because they are being provided to the schools at little to no cost. This leaves US tax dollars to go elsewhere!
Thanks to the donated soil (about $700 worth), a great discount on the timbers (approximately $50), donated seed from:
- Woodlief Supply in Youngsville
- Wyatt-Quarles Seed in Garner
- A Blessing in Louisburg
So, if your school wants to start a garden, don’t let expected costs stop you! Check with local supply stores and you might find that the community will provide what you need for your students. Rather than waiting on a grant that might not be awarded, or fundraising, just ask. You might find that the garden will be low or no cost, and that you can grow food for your students and the community more easily than expected!
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