My name is Laura Harrison and I am the new AmeriCorps Farm to School Coordinator for OCDC. I am extremely excited to continue the efforts initiated by my predecessors, Jeremy and Kaitlin, and to develop some of my own ideas for the program.
For those of you who are visiting the blog for the first time, this is a place to share information, pictures, and updates about the gardens. Please feel free to post, ask questions, and give suggestions at any time!
As I begin my position, my main goal for the next few weeks is to get more acquainted with the gardens and the classes. I will be maintaining six garden sites from 2009-2011 at the Silverton, Settlemier, Cornelius, Linden, Jose Pedro, and Mulino schools and teaching nutrition and garden education at each place. Cipriano will also be added to the list this year, though due to space limitations their program will primarily consist of container gardening.
I was able to speak with some of the teachers and site supervisors recently and I got some great feedback and lots of enthusiasm which makes me even more motivated to make the program a success this year.
My discussions with the staff as well as information from my Oregon Tilth Organic Garden Class (thank you to Oregon Tilth for the generous scholarship), have given me some great ideas for lessons and as well as ways to improve the gardens.
I have lots of thoughts about what I want to accomplish this year and some of the goals I have come up with so far include:
-Develop garden programs at the Independence, Concordia, and
Gresham schools
-Increase family involvement with the garden projects
-Offer garden training for employees as much as possible
-Expand the Silverton site (more than an acre not being utilized!)
-Obtain fruit trees for the sites
-Get grants and donations for tools and materials
-Bring worm bins into the classroom (what kid doesn't like worms?!)
When I think about all of those goals at once I get a little overwhelmed as there is a ton to do and limited time and money! Being that it is fall though, I have some time to plan before the gardens really get going.
In fact the only maintenance that needs to be done right away is putting the beds to rest which is an activity I hope to begin next week at all the centers.
As I learned in my Oregon Tilth class, I will be planting cover crops to replenish the beds and prevent weeds from growing. I am choosing this method instead of mulching or composting because it will be nice to see the cover crops growing in the garden during cold winter months. I will post some pictures of the beds once the seeds are ready and in the group.
Before I end this post and get back to working on the gardens, I want to mention some wonderful donations we have already received. Burpee Seeds & Co., Home Depot, New Seasons, and Portland Nursey have all been very generous. I am truly thankful that the program is getting so much support from the community.
Looking forward to a great year!
