Our K-1 garden plots at the Community Gardens of SCV are dug out, gopher-proofed, amended, irrigated, and planted. They also sport two snappy pink flamingos and a mosaic turtle, donated by Mr. L.After reading The Edible Schoolyard by Alice Waters, I was determined that SCVi would have a garden. Finding the perfect location, however, proved difficult. Just as I was ready to research terracing the hill behind the playground, Lisa Olivera stepped up and offered us two plots on behalf of the Community Gardens, located in Central park in Saugus.
I remember the location from my childhood. It was agriculture then - fields of onions that invaded your nostrils near harvest and made one think of... spaghetti sauce. Now the fields have been replaced with a beautiful park. Off to the left is the community garden, a place well-loved and toiled by various members of the SCV community. There is a board of directors, rules, regulations, and codes for the gate. Countless volunteer hours have been allocated to setting up the plots, bringing in water lines, creating paths, building compost bins, planting fruit trees, and adding rose bushes along the perimeter. An Antelope Valley company donated a tool shed and painted it to match the garden aesthetic. It is a beautiful place.
Jenny and I looked forward to bringing the kids to the garden to plant seeds. We started some seedlings and facilitated the making of plans. Our learners researched vegetables and fruit that might grow in a garden, then cared for the new seedlings with great reverence and concern. We set up two garden workdays and begged parents to bring the children over to the garden on a sunny weekend. Only one family showed. Bless the Wachters!
Doesn't life always intervene when you are making the best of plans? First, there was the weather. The gorgeous sunny days that Jenny, the Wachter family, and I spent preparing the plots were replaced by cold, biting wind and lots and lots of rain. Then, the seedlings gave up their fight for life in those little mini peat pots, and the children grieved appropriately.
On the first available day, we loaded the kids into parent vans, added our seeds, garden tools, sack lunches, and water bottles, then headed for the garden. We spent a long time touring the other plots and getting ideas. (The most popular: Pink flamingos, hummingbird feeders, and gaudy whirly-gigs.)
But then... disaster. We surrounded our plot to begin the work only discover an invasion of fire ants. Not a few little ants that could be squashed out of existence by the exuberance of young children, but... a metropolitan-sized full-on invasion. They were everywhere!
We ended up taking the kids over to the playground at the park, where they had a fabulous time. But disappointment settled over me like a wet blanket. My vision included the contributions of the K-1 learners! They had missed out hauling amendments and tilling the plots in preparation for planting. They didn't get to see the gopher barriers we erected. No digging, hoeing, or raking for our kids... just.... fire ants.
Conversations with the garden people were helpful, but frustrating. In order to get rid of the ants, we would have to lay irrigation. The weather was awful and I fretted because I had no idea about the installation of garden irrigation. I had hoped for parent assistance. When it stopped raining, we visited the plot on our way home each day to flood out the ants. The rain started again. Several fellow gardeners pitched in to help with the hand-watering. Several weeks had passed and, at this point, it was too late for seeds.
One of our colleagues, Dan Molik, contributed the irrigation supplies from a stash left over in his garden shed at home. He and Mr. L spent an afternoon installing the entire system, adding a timer and various sprinkler heads to match the needs of our crops.
We called for another work party and half the class promised they would be coming up after school to help transplant the vegetables Jenny and I purchased at Home Depot while the guys installed the irrigation system.
One family came to help before Jenny and I returned with the plants. They left because of other commitments. Once again, the Wachters came through for us and helped with all of the arranging, digging, and planting. We worked long into the evening.
The garden is a blessing and seems to be growing well. We need a rabbit fence and hope to add one this week. It is a project I believe the kids can handle - we just need to fit it in to everybody's schedule.
The biggest drawback to this garden is the location. It is in Saugus and I live 50 minutes away. It is not near the school so taking "a quick trip" over there to work is encumbered by the necessary bureaucracy of paperwork all field trips require. The only remedy to these obstacles is careful planning.
Our garden grows. Let us hope our harvest is bountiful and the learning is rich!
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