School Garden Step 1: Preparing the Raised Beds

23 Mar School Garden Step 1: Preparing the Raised Beds

One of our biggest Growing Adelante projects is the contsruction of a school garden.  We know that the most important element of a garden is soil health.  We also know that healthy soil requires nutrients.  Those can be gained from decomposing plants and animal products, together with the animals, fungi and other elements that live in healthy soil.  Last year, we repaired the palm fronds on our cafeteria rancho, so we had a lot of old, dry palms just laying around.  With the help of our 5th and 6th graders, we moved those palms from a useless pile that could provide a hazardous environment, and put them to new use.  Now, those palms provide mulch to our beds, helping to retain moisture in the soil and keep it healthy for the seedlings we will transplant.  Even though the palms are big and heavy, by working together with tools like a tarp to distribute the weight and protect student’s hands, we were able to transfer them all easily as a team!