Breaking Ground... 

After some mishaps with machinery over the summer, we were finally able to get some help from a friendly neighbor (Roger Townsend) with a shiny blue tractor on our school garden plot. The goal was to prepare the ground for the raised plant beds to be put in. Roger was familiar with the land around the school and warned me that it is the ground around and that it was stripped of all topsoil when the school was built. He assured that we would never be able to grow anything there, but was a bit more optimistic when I told him we were putting in raised beds. Despite being worried about his breaking his tractor on the rocks, he agreed to come and check it out. He mowed the area and removed the biggest rocks, but that's as far as he was willing to go and it was a good start for us, we are thankful for his help breaking ground!

Since we are using raised flower beds exclusively and other above-the-ground planting structures, the ground below doesn't have to be perfectly tilled or leveled, but we do want it a bit smoother and free of grasses. So the next step is to go in with some rototillers, hoes and broadforks that we will hopefully borrow from our friends at BRWIA. For this, we will recruit as many enthusiastic parents and kids as we can. The goal is for the raised plant beds to be put in by the horticulture class and EcoRaiders Environmental Science Club the week of September 12th. Stay put for more exciting updates!

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