Garden Dispatch: Growth & Garden Dreams

Garden Dispatch

A new school year bursting with growth and garden dreams!

Dear Oak Grove Community,

A new school year has begun, bursting with growth and garden dreams! We’re thrilled to share the latest from our school garden program, a heartfelt space where our community connects with nature and each other.

This summer, our gardens bloomed with life. In the food forest across from the preschool, vibrant zinnias, juicy tomatoes, and companion-planted herbs like purple sage, thyme, and marjoram thrived. The kids’ mulching efforts last year have worked wonders – our soil is flourishing, with green ground cover like we’ve never seen this time of year! The apple trees, listening to the love poured into them, gifted us a bounty before summer break, and our grapes brought joy to all who tasted them.

Looking ahead, we’re dreaming of a perpetual garden for future harvests and more companion planting for pest control and soil restoration. In the main garden, despite pest challenges and disintegrating dome tents (we’re exploring alternatives!), the space is stunning. Holy basil and Italian basil, zinnias, and green onions have been thriving, painting the garden with color and purpose.

Exciting Updates:

New Raised Beds

Four new raised beds are coming to the 1st and 2nd grade garden inside the playground! Kids will help install and care for these, planting fall crops, herbs, and flowers.

Compost System

We’ve built a three-station compost system from pallets behind the food forest. Starting with kitchen scraps, kids will process buckets from the school kitchen, building a closed-loop cycle with leaf, mulch, and scrap piles. Small-scale vermiculture and compost stacks are also humming in the main gardens.

Our Hopes for This Year:

Weave a full-circle garden curriculum – planting, tending, harvesting, creating, healing, and planting again. We envision more cooking with garden harvests, preserving and jarring, and even making plant-based medicines and dyes, and paints. Students will journal, adopt trees to observe through the seasons, and deepen ties between the garden and the classroom.

How You Can Help:

Join us for Meditation Mulching, Chat ’n’ Weed Sessions, or Seasonal Garden Care Dates. Contribute seeds, donate funds, or share garden-related items. Every bit helps our garden grow!

Let’s live in reciprocity with the earth, fostering curiosity, wonder, and connection. Here’s to a year of blossoming together!

With gratitude,

The School Garden Team