Well we here at Nuestra Zemlya Garden are proud to say that the garden project has taken a step forward. Or shall I say a few steps forward. On the morning of May 8th Woodburn Public Works showed up with a small crew and some large equipment; a forklift, track hoe, several 7 cu.yd. trucks, and some shovels. I am sure coffee or some sort of caffeinated beverage was thrown in the mix somewhere too.
By 10 a.m. the ground breaking took place! The track hoe had made its first scoop, the first of many. Over the next several days Public Works dug out approximately 4680 sq.ft. of our soil! During this time they removed sewage and gas lines no longer in use, fixed the existing sewer line and replaced our drain for the garden area. On May 12th, 49 tons of drain rock was put in its place to a depth of 1 foot. Two days later our garden was filled back with amended drainage soil. This soil consisted of 1/3 sandy loam, 1/3 fine woodscraps, and 1/3 of the original soil.
The most encouraging ordeal of it all was the interaction between the students and the work crew. Classes were free to go and observe, take notes, ask questions, or simply passively enjoy the engineers at work. Smiles shinned on the kids faces. Interest was sprouting in their minds. Curiosity was raking at their thoughts. The majority of the students were flooding with questions and "answers". During this time I gave several presentations in the elementary school and Brad Agenbroad I am sure was busy with presentations and explinations on his end in the Middle School.
The following week we had a meeting with Al's garden center, Marion SWCD, and FFA teacher from the High School. Plans were laid out and ideas tossed around and eventually a rough sketch came out of the mixture. Thereafter, Brad Agenbroad and I got together to finalize, chalk out, measure more precisely the area so that we could have a better representation of what our garden is going to look like in the end. We added berms for contour, gravel river beds to mimic natural streams, observation points for collecting data and making scientific illustrations.
The first goals in the gadren have taken hold. But now the goals has budded new growth with new goals and purposes. Not only will it serve as a "living laboratory" for the students to do some long-term-ecological-research (short term too), but it will function as a demonstration garden for the Woodburn public. Hopefully this garden will educate them on water issues and what can be done to help conserve and clean our water. Our garden will serve as an example to local businesses, schools, and neighborhoods for Public Works of Woodburn and options they can provide for water treatment alternatives.
We should have a video and newspaper clip coming up soon. I will post them as soon as I receive them.
Water conservation is becoming so important during the worlds "green" movement. Way to go for getting kids involved with this, its awsome that they are having the chance to learn about all of this now while they are young. It sounds like your garden with be somewhat of a sensory garden with the sounds and visual images you have described. Can't wait to see pictures once you plant some things.