A Place to Call Their Own

Two weeks ago we tilled up a garden space that is 12'x8'. The students were involved throughout the entire process:

Planning (this plan evolved from a paw print shaped bed, to represent their school's mascot, to something they're more familiar with: a rectangular bed)

Tilling (an adult volunteer tilled up the grass sod, the students raked and collected the sod and then moved it to our new compost pile. In teams of four they carried a 40 gallon bucket of sod, laughing all the way.)




Next the students built a topsoil layer to cover the heavily compacted clay-like soil. (To do this the students carried buckets of leaf mulch to the new garden bed and after spreading these, they shoveled out carefully composted goat, cow, and chicken manure on top of the leaf mulch.)











After covering the area with leaf mulch and well-composted manure, the students took a turn at the tiller (One even sang, "I'm a Cowboy Baby!" while doing so)





Lastly, they covered the new soil with a layer of landscaping fabric and secured this with a border of compost. (While securing the fabric under the border of compost they marched around the perimeter, singing a song they learned in Choir.)

Farmers around the area complain that it's difficult to find workers. I do not have this problem: I have an abundance of workers, who will sing, laugh, and dance while performing tasks many call "work." Sure, they may need constant reminders of the task at hand but in two and a half hours, a group of six students and four adults tilled up a piece of land to create an outdoor garden space fit for planting. A little place my students can call their own.

Last week, after four days of rain, we were ready to plant in our new garden bed. The students narrowed down their list of plants they wished to grow and marked the landscaping fabric to determine where to cut through and plant. Many families in this area have gardens, so this is not entirely new to the students involved in this Garden Project. What is new is that at school, the garden will be their responsibility. They have already been instrumental in the planning process. Next, in their garden, they will learn how to plant, tend and nurture, and harvest.