Dreams start to become a reality!

It's been a while since our last garden update but there has been plenty of preparation and planning going on! Our extended school year students have worked  hard watering and weeding the new beds and we now have some sturdy milkweed plants emerging from the seedlings for our Monarch way station! 

Following lots of budgeting and sourcing of the correct materials we are also thrilled to share with you that following the very generous donation of time and labour from Dave Innis of DJI Services our wooden raised beds are now made and in situ on the black top in front of the building!  We are also so appreciative of the hard work of our custodian Matt who continues to work flexibly and enthusiastically to make all our plans come together.

As you may recall we are planning on producing organic herbs and vegetables - and as a result there are very specific requirements for all our materials to maintain that organic status. Veronica has been guiding this process every step of the way and we have all been learning as we go. As a result the next step is to lay plain, unprinted cardboard on the bottom of the frames which will help with moisture control and then line the frame with organic landscape fabric as a retainer.  After that - we can fill with certified organic soil ready for the growing to take place! Veronica  already has some seedlings started for us so we hope to have those planted ASAP.

For those of you who generously donated to the Mothers' Day photoshoot fundraiser - the money from that day has so far been spent on a double composter and the 120 cubic feet of organic soil! Two amazing purchases which will keep on giving and giving. Thank you all so much for your invaluable contributions!

As an exciting aside - before the school year ended, Trader Joe's had included some fading potted plants in our weekly Bloom Room donation. Since we are all caring types - even though the plants looked very much on their last legs - we planted them in the raised bed and this week were delighted to see that the lavender is actually flowering! We celebrate even the tiny successes here at Connections!