Garden for the Good - A Science, Art and Service Project
October 10, 2011
My gardening page is like an English herbaceous border—complex, chaotic, and full of surprises! I began it in the summer of 2005, so if you know anything about gardening, you know that it will take some time to grow. As of now it resembles a wildflower garden.
The Garden for the Good has grown out of two teachers talking. Ms. Pat Seta, Lower School Science Teacher, and Mrs. Jan Wiesner, Lower School Art Teacher, hatched the idea one day when discussing how they could develop a project that could be a garden for science and a sculpture garden for art. Mr. Mark Wiesner, Upper School Art Teacher has joined the group and will have his students also creating garden themed art work to enhance the garden's aesthetics. The project has benefited greatly from the help and knowledge of Mrs. Jane Burke, a former Summit parent and avid gardener and her son Evan. They have been the angels who have promised to be with us as we launch this project.
Every effort has been made to seek funding for this project. So far Duke Energy has granted the project $1000.00 and another grant came in from Aero Grow Inc. which has provided seeds and seed starting pots. We are grateful for the financial support from these companies.
With the concept of the garden there was the desire to have the garden function as a service project. With that in mind we have asked a chef to work with the students to help them prepare meals from the harvest and an evening meal will be offered to the families for a small cost. All the money raised will go to the Free Store Food Bank. Such food banks often need money rather than fresh porduce that has to be stored. There are also plans for an evening 'opening' in the garden to showcase the student's sculptures and outdoor paintings.
It all began . . . on a rather chilly early February Saturday morning the wood from Forge Lumber Company (generously donated by Mr. Eric Steinman) was sawed and assembled into ten 4'x4' raised garden beds with the help of Mr. Andrew Ritch and Mr. Mike Bergeron.
...and then it snowed and snowed... and snowed. So the work that began was indoors, Ms. Seta with the help and Jane and Evan Burke had the Lower School Science classes planting starter seeds. Another early part of the garden has been the worm composting bins that are busy producing soil in Ms. Seta's classroom.
This blog will be used to keep you up to date on the garden and what is growing. It will allow members of the school community to post their involvement with the work of tending the garden. It will also be the site where photos of the garden can be seen.
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