Garden Update
Get an update on our learning garden.
Volunteer Opportunities
Help us kick off our 2nd growing season with our First 2012 Garden Work Party on April 14th from 9am-12pm to clean things up and get it ready for a spring planting!
We're also looking for Garden Educators to assist with the planning and delivery of our 4th grade garden curriculum on Tuesday afternoons and volunteers for our Wednesday early release Garden Club with the Boys & Girls Club.
We're also scheduling our first Garden Angel Orientation Meeting for April 5th from 1-2pm. Volunteering as a garden angel is a way to contribute to the success of the learning garden on your own schedule doing weekly garden tasks. Spend an hour or two a week helping out with the maintenance, care and beauty of the garden. Please RSVP for this meeting. An orientation can be scheduled at another time, just contact denise.
Contact denise or call 541.385.6908 x14 to get involved!
Summer Programming
In addition to our summer programming partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, this year we'll be offering a Garden Sprouts Summer Club open to the community for youth ages 6-8. We’ll dig for worms, care for plants, make garden art, eat fresh garden snacks and explore the natural world of gardening. Wednesday mornings from 9-11am July 11th - August 15th.
Beginning March 26th you can sign up through Bend Parks & Recreation.
For more information email denise or call 541.385.6908 x14.
2011 Garden Accomplishments:
- All of our raised garden beds were built by local youth with the tools and guidance of TEC board member and local builder Jim Guild.
- We secured local businesses to be founding sponsors of the garden with their huge donations of soil (Instant Landscaping), wood (Miller Lumber) and pavers (Mutual Materials) as well as many other businesses contributing materials, services and advice.
- Every Amity Elementary School student has experienced the garden at least once - from planting bulbs and potatoes, to gathering sunflower seeds and worm compost to planting transplants and preparing the harvest meal.
- Every 10, 11 & 12 year old who participated in the Boys & Girls Club summer programming came to the garden at least once as part of a rotation that included cooking and nutrition.
- Bend High School worked independently last year to use the garden as a classroom to learn about sustainability while implementing a reclaimed fence project. This year they are using the garden to study universal design and will be building some tall standing raised beds accessible by wheelchairs.
- Many schools got involved in the garden through service learning including REALMS, Seven Peaks School and New Leaf Academy.
- Although our bounty was not big this first year, we did manage to donate salad greens and tomatoes to The Family Kitchen.
- We had 133 volunteers contribute 327 hours to the garden, through monthly work parties, garden education, garden angel tasks and garden planning and preparations.
- We made partnerships with many organizations including OSU Extension Master Gardeners, OSU Extension Nutrition Education Program, many local schools, and the City of Bend.
What's Next:
- Finish the reclaimed wood fencing around the property.
- Design and build a greenhouse on site.
- Expand growing capabilities.
- Expand our irrigation to connect with new beds and ones that weren't utilized last season and offer them to our neighbors for community beds.
Want to help? Contact denise for more info or call 541.385.6908 x14.
