In addition to the main farm area featured in the blog content, here are the projects we are planning for the future to be installed in the interior courtyards of the school campus.
Tea Garden:
Purpose: The Tea Garden will provide students at Walker Jones Elementary School an opportunity to grow and care for a variety of herbs. The herbs in the garden are all traditional tea herbs, though all are able to be used as spices for foods and in the creation of other products (potpourri, art projects, dry goods, etc…).
Contents of the garden: The garden, located near the playground, will be divided into two spaces, with equal space given to each herb:
Sweet / Sour Herbs
- Rosemary
- Lavender
- Stevia
- Lemon Verbena
- Lemon Balm
Savory
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Mint
Experimental “Story” Garden:
Purpose: For another space in Walker Jone’s playground area we propose an Experimental Garden. This garden will provide rich opportunities for students to actively participate in the design, planting, growing and harvesting processes. Since students are not yet present to design the beds, we will initially focus this garden on late fall vegetables (pumpkins, gourds, etc) that provide a wealth of learning opportunities and student investment in the gardens.
Contents of the garden: To begin with, we propose planting two or three late-fall crops, probably pumpkins and gourds. From past experience, we know pumpkins are of high interest to students and provide rich connections to social studies standards on holidays, while gourds’ fascinating shapes connect to standards on descriptive language, geometry, and patterns. In following seasons, students will choose what is planted in the Experimental Garden. This fall, we also propose leaving an open space for students to choose what to plant.
Rain Gardens:
Purpose: Up to 70% of watershed pollution comes from rain running off man-made surfaces, known as stormwater. A Rain Garden at Walker Jones will both reduce run-off from Walker Jones into local watersheds and provide opportunities for students to learn about environmental science and responsible water practices. According to Rain Gardens of Western Michigan (http://www.raingardens.org,) “A Rain Garden is an attractive landscaping feature planted with perennial native plants. It is a bowl-shaped or saucer-shaped garden with deep, loose soil, designed to absorb stormwater run-off from impervious surfaces such as roofs and parking lots.”
Contents of the garden: To create the Rain Garden, we will reuse the grasses that we will be removing from the playground to make spaces for the Tea and Experimental Gardens. We will replant the grasses in the southern and western ends of the soccer field, locations with significant slopes and therefore increased risk for stormwater.
Orchard:
Purpose: Thanks to a generous potential donation, Walker Jones will be able to have a small orchard of 20 – 25 fruit trees planted near the soccer field and basketball court. The fruit trees, materials, orchard installation, design work, and environmental curriculum with students will all be donated, free of charge to Walker Jones. Observing fruit grow on trees and then eat the fruit provides high-interest opportunities for students to practice academic skills as well as develop knowledge of health and nutrition.
Contents of the orchard: Though the specifics of what types of fruit trees are still in discussion, we are interested in having a variety of fruit trees including, but not limited to, figs, paw-paws, and persimmons. The goal is that the fruits of the trees will eventually provide healthy snacks for the students and possibly families in addition to providing limitless opportunities for learning.
