Final Garden Design and Room to Grow

With the garden build days just around the corner, it seems like it must be time to share the final garden design with the public!

While there are only a few minor changes from the original garden design, the changes that have been made should facilitate efficient building and easier gardening, for both students and community members.

A few differences you might notice if you were familiar with the original design:

• All community beds are now 4x8 instead of some 8x8 and some 4x8. This is to ensure that gardeners can reach the center of their beds without stepping on (and compacting) their soil.
• Student beds will be built as 4 4x9 beds connected end to end instead of one 4x36 bed. This should make construction simpler.
• We've added a second entrance for community members.
• At the community entrance, some open space remains to act as an area where community members can gather to chat. Maybe someday we can add some benches, planters, and an arbor to make the space more welcoming.
• As you'll see on the image below (click on the image to enlarge it), three water spigots have been added along the fence nearest the school. We originally planned for one spigot to start with and hoped to add more in the future, but thankfully we were able to install all three now. This should ensure that water is readily available for gardeners. (Remember...kids will only be allowed to use watering cans -- we want them to learn to conserve!)

Some elements of the garden will have to be saved for the future.

• Perimeter beds. We don't have enough lumber to construct perimeter beds now. If you know someone who might like to take on this project, we'd love to see it happen! The perimeter beds will be a great place to grow plants for our art and science classes, and they will help the garden look finished and manicured, keeping outside weeds from creeping in.
• Trees and classroom space at the north end of the garden. If you have access to fruit or shade trees, we would love to add them to the north end of our garden. This could be a great space for our students to gather, for our CSD students to take a break, and for experienced gardeners to teach classes to our community during the summers.
• Community entrance beautification. We'd love to see this area spruced up. If that's a project you'd like to take on, let us know!
• Composting and tool storage. This area will not be built until sometime after spring break. If you're handy and would like to take on either the composting area or a tool storage shed or both, we'd love to have your help!

Our garden will be ready for planting by April, but that doesn't mean it will be finished! What can you contribute to growing our garden?

Could you RSVP for the garden build days?

In order to help us plan the garden work days, we'd love it if you could let us know when you can come and what tools you can contribute to the process.

Find more information and RSVP on our SignUp Genius page here. Thanks so much for your help!

Psst...you can get an idea of how we'll construct the garden by watching this short video of the Mill Street Community Garden coming together last fall.

Work days scheduled!

You've probably already seen it (I hope!), but our garden area is now enclosed by a 6' fence. The land inside has been leveled and hose hook-ups are ready for use. We're well on our way to growing a garden!

To get the beds built, we've scheduled two work days in March. The first is Saturday, March 9th and the second is the following Saturday, the 16th. Please mark your calendars and plan to bring your whole family to help us out! More information (about times, tools, and what you'll be working on) will be available soon.

Hormone- and antibiotic-free manure

 I know some of you already have gardens at home. You're not reading this blog because you're waiting for our garden to open -- you're reading it because you love gardening and want to share the love! Knowing that, I think some of you will be interested in Colorado Springs Utility's manure fundraiser for Project COPE. It's a great initiative by CSU and Ranch Foods Direct, bringing you high quality manure and helping to keep families in need warm this winter.

Check out this link to the project to find out more.

Moving deck wood this Saturday!

We'll be moving deck wood for the garden beds this Saturday. We need a few extra hands, so please let me know if you can help. We'll need volunteers at the home where we're collecting the wood (about a mile from the school) to load wood and we'll need more volunteers at the school to unload the wood.

If you can help, please email me (Hillary) at foothillsgarden@gmail.com. Tell me how many of you will be there and whether you'd prefer morning or afternoon. I'll get back to everyone by Thursday evening to let you know what time and where to meet.

Oh, and anyone with a truck or a big SUV (full sized Suburban, Yukon, or Expedition) is welcome to help transport the wood. The more hands and vehicles, the faster we'll get done. Kids are welcome (and encouraged) to help!

Trailer, anyone?

We've got a big load of deck wood to move this weekend and we need help! Do you have a pickup truck and/or a trailer you'd be willing to drive for us? We'll supply the hands to load and unload the wood, but we need a pickup or two (or three!) to transport it all.

The boards are mostly 12' long 2x6 boards and all the hardware has already been removed, so there will be nothing sharp to scratch your vehicle.

If you can help us out, shoot me (Hillary) an email at foothillsgarden@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Digging in for Fall!

Everyone I run into these days asks me, "What is going on with the garden? I haven't seen any progress or heard about any volunteer days!"

I know, I know. We hit a few speed bumps, but we haven't stopped working. There were issues with land that we had to get permission to use, the fence that needed to be re-bid, district employees who were so busy with important indoor projects that our outdoor project had to be put on hold. All kinds of things have come up, but please know that the garden has not been abandoned.

You may not see it, but we continue to move forward.

Here is our plan for the next nine months. Before the first frost, we will

1. Have the volleyball court timbers removed and level the area where the garden will go.
2. Install the fence around the entire perimeter of the planned garden area.
3. Install the plumbing to the garden.

We will let the garden area sit over the winter as we work behind the scenes collecting wood for the raised beds (psst...we're still looking for used deck wood!), gathering kid-sized tools, creating garden curriculum, and planning what to plant in the spring.

At some point before, during, or shortly after spring break (the timing depends mostly on the weather), we will have a volunteer day or two to build the raised garden beds and roll out landscape fabric. Shortly after that, we'll fill the beds with organic garden soil and lay crushed gravel in the garden paths.

And then...and then, we'll plant!

Between now and planting time, we will need volunteers to help us out and we will continue to use this space to let you know about what we need and how you can help.

Thanks for your continued support!