The instructions were to ‘try to get all the root.’   This lad got it all !
Everyone worked hard, had a good day, got a LOT done. This is going to be one great garden!
(see the link at right for more pictures)

Ed Stierly excavating began breaking ground for the Eagleview Garden at the Senior building this morning. See how it’s going:
(click on pictures for a better view)

Hankin Group – Triskeles Cooperating To Build Garden For Seniors
It’s true: gardening has been shown to lower blood pressure; it’s as good exercise as walking also. It has one more benefit–it provides healthy local food for your stomach.
With these in mind, Triskeles and our civic-minded hosts here at Eagleview have agreed to cooperatively build and [...]

All container gardens, planted by the kindergartens, with help from Mr. Mark of Triskeles and Heather Ryan, OJR parent. Janet Owen brought her bees and chicks, and everyone had a beautiful, sunny day planting herbs, lettuce, flowers, onions, broccoli, spinach, and more
Thanks to Jo-an Rechtin for getting it all together.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to have [...]

The kids at French Creek Elementary School–that’s who!  May 12 was Farm Day at FCES,  and all the kindergarten students joined Mr. Mark, parent Heather Ryan, and their teachers in planting some fresh veggies for later consumption. Potatoes? Got ‘em!  Herbs? Onions? Squash/Peas/Corn? Lettuce?   All Here!
With a little work and some good soil, these should [...]

We were reminded of how wonderful and caring many young people are today by Side by Side and Camp Jump Start graduate Alyssa Scharff, who wrote back from college, reflecting on her time as a teen mentor in these programs. In her own words:
Mrs. Birdsall,
Of course I am interested in staying in touch with camp. [...]

At Exton Elementary School, the kids were not afraid to get their hands into some of the good Organic Mechanic’s potting soil and help fill up a container garden. Mr. Birdsall explained to them how it worked, how the water reservoir at the bottom was filled through the bamboo tube; then everyone dug their hands [...]

Asked a second grader at the North Coventry Elementary School this morning when Mark Birdsall, of Triskeles, and Mark Highland, the Organic Mechanic, were presenting to students about compost, soil, vermiculture, and related topics. There were a lot of other questions, and a good bit of student involvement as they demonstrated their retention of information [...]

Saturday, April 24, saw the first session of a new Triskeles program: Side by Side Next Steps. For years the popular Side by Side program has had to limit its seasonal workshops to teens and first/second graders. When the young ones reached third grade, there was simply no room for that many students.
Last Saturday we [...]

The FOOD Initiative is fully underway and going very well! This grant funded project (thank you to the Philadelphia Foundation) is allowing us to identify and interview organizations in the Delaware Valley that are connected to youth nutrition, sustainable agriculture and gardening, preparation for employment, and other food programming in the hopes of building partnerships [...]