The project: starting a garden at the kids' school, a public school. Which, of course, is a great idea for any school and people will smile and say, "Good luck with that! The kids will love it!" And they know it's a lot harder than I think, and they wonder if it will really happen.
And as soon as I started looking into it, I began to wonder the same thing.
Going against me:
public school requires lots of approval
local businesses had 'helped' our school with gardens before and weren't willing to try again
my budget was pretty small, $500 which also had to be used for other school beautification projects throughout the year
my second ever project (Pansy day was first!)
I love to plan, but actually doing it is another story
oh, and most importantly, I do NOT have a green thumb
Last year's Pansy Day, having the Kindergarteners plant 183 pansies around the school, was a great introduction for me on how to organize and pull together a project. Remember Donald Trump's apprentice? I was always so nervous for those people and said at every show, "I'm glad that's not me! I hate to be in charge."
And then here I am.
I said, "yes, I'll do it," getting out of my comfort zone, and now it's really happening!
The foot work was done last year. That included trying to figure out the best spot at the school for sun, water, teachers; I visited another school with an established garden and they offered me a manual to help us get started, along with some wise words of wisdom, "It's okay to start small."
Of course, God placed some great people around me to actually get us in to action this spring. A local farmer, a friend of another PTA member, had expressed interest in starting a garden at the school. I was given his name, and thankfully, he was more into doing than planning. He tilled a spot his first day out there. (OK. So I hadn't approved that spot and we had to scrap that idea...lesson learned.)
But here we are, spring right around the corner and we have five beds ready for planting. They've been tilled, composted, fertilized, and anything else you can do to them. So the farmer says we'll be able to stand out there and watch the seeds grow, they'll grow so fast.
We're putting up a compost bin, a rain barrel, a fence, and I'm imagining wind chimes and little garden statues that will make it fun and whimsical for the kids. Here's my pinterest garden board to see my grandiose ideas. And it needs a gate...what kid can resist a garden gate?
So last week, I was trying to think of a way to get the kids involved now, and I thought of giving the teachers "seed kits" to start growing in their classrooms. They said yes (another surprise to me) and then I had to figure out what these seed kits would be!
The easy part...we reused the perfect little pots from Pansy day...I knew I'd saved them for a good reason. And a squirt bottle for watering.
Twenty-five bags of dirt for each class...that's 125 bags total...Diego helped me pour and count.
I added a calendar for March and April to note when they sprout, who's watering, etc., a poster on what they are growing, and a visual on how to plant seeds. Add the seeds and some labels and it became a kit!
Five kits ready to go! If they all sprout, I think we've outgrown our garden already! Maybe we could have a plant sale?
No comments:
Post a Comment