Contact: Penny Colgan-Davis
Over the course of two Saturday work parties and weekly garden classes (of the PreK and K with the 7th and 8th graders), we built up the soil so it will support plants and have planted a variety of native shrubs and perennials that attract butterflies.

We created over 10 pounds of compost, thanks to compost worms and bins, and the PreK/K had a fabulous time watching the process!

In addition, this spring, we created a wall mural overlooking the garden with all of the students in the school with portraits of native plants in the garden, along with a beautiful sign that lets the community know that it is their garden too. We did more planting and tree trimming to let in more sun.

This has been such a joy to be able to do! The 7th and 8th graders meet every week with the PreK and K kids to "do gardening", including "making dirt" and the 3rd grade also gardens each week. We had two big garden work days, one for families in the fall when we spread compost and mulch and one with the Friends Select Middle School Service group that comes to us to spread mulch in the spring and move bricks for our walkway.

Our Summer Camp will grow and harvest a "salad garden," as a demonstration of organic farming and healthy eating. Our hope is to then plant a winter crop of vegetables for the PreK, K 7th and 8th graders to maintain throughout the fall and winter, with a soup-making project using the bounty.

We could not have done any of this without FCE's generosity!