The Mulching Continues

The pile of 120 yards of pine mulch is quickly being dispersed around the campus and the grounds are looking great! It is clear that every garden has received personal tender love and care from the hard working group of workers. Before the mulch was applied the gardens were free of weeds and debris. Aesthetics such as edging were also applied. This will assist with the reduction of weeds that in turn, will allow more time for the workers to work on other projects around the school. The front garden islands along M building with yellow Daylilies and Fanshawe’s Boulevard entrance by the H bus loop have been completed, leaving the entrance a sight to see!

Individual education projects have been assigned to the student workers in pairs, to allow an assortment of skills to be developed. These projects range from the care of the live roof at Z building to the consistent and controlled pruning and growth of different chrysanthemums. As well, growth of various vegetables for the culinary classes under different experimental standards are being grown in the greenhouse.

This week Ellyn H and I planted up four different colored varieties of young chrysanthemums (pink, yellow, red and white). After deliberate calculations and measurements of the greenhouse front planter beds were able to dig and place over 140 different 1 gallon pots to be planted pot in pot outside of the greenhouse. These mums will be ready for pickup and sale in early autumn so keep your eyes peeled! The week ended with a very much needed rain storm to break the high humidity and the plants were able to refresh and rest as well as the workers throughout the weekend. Can’t wait to see what the summer has left in store.

Summer Blog - June 3^rd- 10^th, 2018

Chris M.

After cleaning up and getting some well-earned rest after the Cuddy open garden, we all came ready to put in some good hours of hard work. On Tuesday May 29^th, 2018 we received 120 yards of pine mulch to spread throughout the gardens here on campus. 

There are a few main reasons why we mulch the gardens every summer; the main reason is that it makes the gardens look more complete and appealing to the human eye. The other reason is it helps slow the growth rate of the weeds down after we prep the gardens for the mulch. We got one major high traffic garden done at the front of T and B buildings. We fixed the edge running along the front of B building so it would stop the mulch from running onto the grass if there was a heavy rain and on the other hand it stops the grass from taking the garden bed back. Overall it honestly just makes the gardens looks that much more complete. Before we finished up T and B, the team got split up. One half stayed to fine tune some things and the other half moved to Cheapside entrance bed. After both teams finished up what we were assigned we cleaned up and had some inspiring closing words. We locked up and headed home.

The next area we had to conquer was in the H, M, F, E bus loop. We arrived there with high spirts and an open mind ready to put some hard work in. We hoped the weather would stay cool like it had been all week but time would only tell. Some of the team started on weeding and removing suckers from the base of some trees and shrubs and some starting edging while we waited for the first load of mulch. After prepping the beds and spreading the mulch we received some nice encouraging complements from passing civilians. We took the words to heart and kept up the hard work until lunch. After we restored our energy and our stomachs we headed back to the site to help with the removal of a Crackerjack Pyramidal Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Crackerjack’) at the corner of F and H building. 

Jeff made sure we went through all safety procedures by blocking the sidewalks and doors and redirecting the traffic on the sidewalks so they couldn’t be hit by any falling debris. Once that mess was cleaned up and all the compost was put away we finished up spreading mulch. We cleaned up the site and were all ready to head home for the weekend and regroup and get some rest.