July Reflection

First of all, I NEED to charge my camera battery! I really want to take pics of the current state of things in the outdoor classroom.

Secondly - here is my (late) July Reflection:

What is the current status of your project?

• For the past three weeks we have been raking, pruning, and digging in the garden. This is all to prepare the soil for planting in the fall. In addition, I have contacted designers, garden centers, and master gardeners to answer questions about planting. I've also talked to Muriel Williman at Orange County Solid Waste Management about composting. We bought a compost bin. We made a yard waste bin out of wooden palettes that I drove around in the back of my small car :-). In talking to a garden specialist at Niche Gardens and the Master Gardeners at the NCBG and one of the mothers who volunteers and by reading resources they provided I've been learning about what plants to plant to meet our goals of a drought resistant, easy to care for, native/pollinator plant garden. I worked with one of the students volunteering to collect samples of different plants in the outdoor classroom (ideally with buds, flowers, multiple leaves) so they could be identified. We found out we have a ton of yicky invasives (lespidosia, liriope, vinca, wisteria, nadina...). We discussed the pros and cons of using Round-up. We planned how to prepare the soil (this involved discussion with Master Gardeners, OCSWM staff, Botanical Garden curators, garden specialists at Niche, and more). We discussed how to get rid of poison ivy. I learned the hard way to pay attention to ant hills (ants HURT). Tomorrow we are roto-tilling.
  

How does your fellowship experience compare to your initial expectations?

• I think my fellowship is going to be far more on-going than I thought. I thought I'd be able to hand things over to the teachers by the beginning of the school year for the most part but we will still be planting because it is too hot to do so now.
  

What has been the most rewarding and challenging aspect of working with your community partner?

• It has been awesome getting to meet families with passions similar to mine. Its cool to see how dedicated they are - coming even when it is super hot and if it means early mornings. I've really appreciated the help of my coordinating teacher and the technology teacher who are both endless sources of ideas and help. I'm also grateful for the larger Carrboro/Chapel Hill community. Quite a few groups have offered price cuts, lots of people have offered advice and enthusiasm. Family friends, high schoolers, and community organizers have gotten involved. The custodial staff puts up with the mud I trek into the school, greets us cheerfully, and unlocks doors for me. The principal is saving plants from her garden for the project.
• The challenging aspect is thinking about the long term sustainability of the project and working with the hundreds of time restraints we all have. It is also sometimes tricky to navigate the project with all the different ideas about how it should work.
  

What role has your faculty mentor played in guiding your work and helping you to address any problems that you have faced?

• My faculty mentor has offered to support the project however possible and will help create a rock garden that will be a part of the project that extends into the fall.
  

In what ways have you needed to be flexible?

• I've changed the times that I'm available and I've worked somedays on my own for part of the day on the physical task of creating the outdoor classroom. I did not realize that planting would have to occur in the fall (DUH!) so that was a shocker.