NOT THE DEDICATED GARDENERS AT PARK SPRING

It was bright and sunny when we started planting. After the lettuce, cabbage, onions, flowers, tomatoes, and a few other things were in, the clouds rose majestically and it rained: warm but steady. Did we quit?? NOOOO   Everyone kept planting, and had a lot of fun, actually.

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 operate a garden near the seniors residence building at the Town Center.

Keep your eyes on this blog to see a wonderful garden grow and sprout, and lots of wonderful things to eat begin to emerge.

Hankin Group’s top-notch crew of professionals is building a fenced garden with raised, senior and handicapped-accessible beds, water, and a gazebo to rest in out of the sun!

Here’s what the site looks like BEFORE anything happens:

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 a big garden at WVES soon????

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 all do well and be healthy food for the kids this spring and summer.

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. I am continually using it for school papers and as a way to relate to classes. I am so blessed to have the experience of connecting with these children and hopefully influencing their life for the better. I love volunteering anyway I can. It makes me feel like I am giving back to the world and doing something positive. I honestly can not wait to help out at camp this summer. I am willing to do anything you need. As you already know I am not always the best with planning ahead, but I feel as though this camp is helping me more then it helps the children. Each year I learn something new about myself and others. I am so glad I was pushed to get involved my freshman year of high school. With out the camp I do not feel like my life would be as complete today. I just want to thank you for running programs like this. I know that you do not have to do as much as you do to make Jumpstart run as smoothly as it does. . . I just really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for . . . running such an amazing program.
Love,
Alyssa

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 into to bag and pulled up a few handfulls to add to the ‘garden.’

When all was full, we planted some lettuce and cabbage seedlings donated by Mary K. Peterson, who has helped the school build a few nice garden beds at their site just off Rt 100 in Exton. It’s a lovely little setting for a garden, and we hope to go back this summer and show families how to build the container gardens.

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 covered before going back to their classroom.

Good job, NORCO students!  And look what’s growing in your garden!

On May 7th, Triskeles will be offering container gardens, and Organic Mechanic container garden soil, to families who have ordered it and want to start their own healthy gardening activities.

Mark Highland telling NORCO students about compost and soil

Look What's Coming Up in the Garden

Lettuce-Ready for Transplanting

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 began offering a new program for third-sixth grade youth, working and learning under the guidance of the Triskeles Green Intern teens. Nine excited former Side by Siders were accepted into Next Steps, and joined the Green Interns for an exciting day of learning, working and fun.

The general theme for the day was ‘Earth Day.’  We visited the animals at the Waldorf School, helped the farmers on the wonderful organic Kimberton CSA weed the peas, heard the story of the French Creek Watershed and its importance to us all, and potted pansies to take home to our families. Oh yes–we also ate some wonderful corn bread and Seven Stars yogurt, courtesy of the bigger-but-younger Side by Side group who were doing their usual interesting activities up at the Garden Building.