Hopkins School: Seniors' Week of Service
Ever wonder what
the best way to tackle a ton a laborious, but creative, gardening and building
work might be? Senior high school students are one great way! We’ve certainly
learned how much we can count on students and teachers from Hopkins School.
They joined us for four full days, three of which were spent in the sun and
heat at the Ivy Street Community
Garden, and one indoors
(mainly) at our office during some heavy rain. Committee members and resident
gardeners for the Ivy
Street Community
Garden are so thankful to
have had this energetic and hard working group to accomplish quite a list of
tasks.
One project involved making use of rubble and crushed foundation that
was unearthed during the construction process for the greenhouse. After digging
a 4’ wide by 60’ trench stretching from the eastern entrance of the greenhouse
to where a shed will soon be located, large, medium and small stone were
cleverly arranged and filled in with gravel to begin the creation of a pathway.
And this was no easy task! It took a lot of hands and strength to move around
some large pieces of concrete.
Other accomplished
tasks included more heavy lifting to build a stone wall along the Shelton Avenue side
of the garden to establish a flower bed and allow for seating in the open and
shaded green space of the garden. A lot of leaf raking was tackled along with
much needed weeding and cutting down of overgrown tree branches. There was also
planting of various vegetables in raised beds that fellow students worked to
turn over the soil and add composting to. Furthermore, the garden’s neighbor,
Ms. Ida Felder, received some helping hands to clear out leaves, dead plants
and debris from her backyard. Whole sections the area were completely
transformed by the end of the four days, all with the supervision and help of
the gardeners.
The most creative
aspect of this service week involved the creation of garden sculptures. As a
way to utilize plastic and metal materials that had also been found or dug out
from the ground, such as pipes, rods, and broken gardening tools, students were
asked to experiment with fittings and paint to create sculptures that could
occupy a shaded portion of the garden. The students took to the task very well
and came up with some truly captivating pieces. Great job, everyone!
