Wooly Pockets are up!

Here's our newest addition to the Cport garden: wooly pockets along the playground. We'll be planting these in the next couple of weeks - hopefully soon we'll see some green sprouts growing up the fence!

Final phase of Woodland Garden

With the woodland shade garden planted and mulched, the final phase is building benches and some raised beds for a few plants (there's a break of sky between the neighboring buildings in that section of the garden that should allow enough sun for edible plants). Alex is providing estimates for this project. We hope we can raise funds for so it can be begun this winter and ready for spring.

Cport Garden Committee Notes, Nov 19

Attendance: Alex (parent), Andy (parent), Monica (parent), Derek (parent and vertical gardening expert), Alice (CitySprouts)

Agenda:

1. Vertical gardening – input from Derek
2. Decision to use Woolie Pockets instead of CityScapes aluminum frame
3. School restructuring and how this may impact the garden
4. Budget update
5. Projects for the spring

Action list:

1. Vertical gardening – input from Derek

Derek, a Cport parent with 3 kids, installed 9 vertical gardening systems in a public park in Singapore. He’s unfortunately leaving Cambridge around Christmas, but had this input for whatever system we choose:

- Make the purpose public and clear: lots of signage and information will keep people from judging the appearance, which may not always be perfect

- Maintenance: should be taken over by one person, who develops expertise as to amount water is needed, which plants thrive, how often to change out plants, etc. In our case, this would be a CitySprouts person.

- Think carefully about which plants would be appropriate for the system – how long will they last, how much water do they need, will you need to switch them out frequently?

- Keep systems low and accessible, unless you’re ready to deal with ladders frequently.

2. Vertical Garden Decision

After some discussion with Derek, the committee decided to pursue Woolie Pockets over the CityScapes aluminum frame, for the following reasons:

- Pockets are cheaper! $5,798 buys us two 8x4 CityScape frames; $1,000 buys us 50 Pockets, dirt, curriculum package

- Pockets are deeper, easier to plant, may retain water better

- Pockets are soft, appropriate for next to the play area, can be hung individually

- CityScapes frame is heavy, shallow pockets, requires multiple people to do the heavy lifting for planting and maintenance. Can’t really switch out individual plants without taking the whole frame down

- Irrigation for Pockets will most likely be by hose. Andy has a drip irrigation system that works well at home, we may be able to set something similar up.

3. School restructuring

There is some concern that the Cport building will, in a worst-case scenario, no longer be used as a school. Another restructuring possibility involves moving the 6/7/8 grades to a separate middle school. We will find out about the future of Cport in January. Obviously, our plans to invest in hardscaping will change, depending on whether or not we stay in the current location. CitySprouts will, most likely, stick with the student population, either at Cport, or another building.

4. Budget Update

CitySprouts budget for FY 2011 is $2,000, and can be drawn on starting in the spring, for whatever projects we’d like. That said, Monica is working diligently on a few grants to help fund the vertical gardening, potential vegetable garden, and fruit trees for outside the staff room.

5. Projects for the spring

Alice’s job at CitySprouts ends on November 30^th, and starts up again April 1^st. There are number of projects that would be great to start then (or before):

- Raised bed/bench: we would like to hire Alex to plan and build the bench/bed for the woodland garden. Monica will use his sketch to apply for grants for this, and once we hear about the school plans, this could start in early spring

- Vertical gardens: we’re going with Woolie Pockets. Once we hear back from the Harvest Coop grant, we could already start planning where these will go and getting teachers to start thinking about planting them in the spring.

- Dwarf fruit trees in pot for on the roof outside the staff room: Isabel Eccles and her class would be in charge of this project. Monica is working on a grant for fruit trees. This would start in the spring.

- Teacher parking spot space: this is stalled, still – we haven’t been able to secure a replacement spot yet. We’re still working on it.

That’s it for the Cport Garden Committee notes. Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and work, and special thanks to Monica for her all of her research on vertical gardens and funding! I’m looking forward to seeing you all again in the spring! -- Alice

8th graders Make Beautiful Garden Signs for Woodland Garden

With the help of art teacher Amy Grady, Cambridgeport School 8th graders made signs labeling the new woodland garden and its many native plants. As Alex on the garden committee pointed out, the colors and shapes of the signs echo the colors and shapes of the student-made "house tiles" that appear opposite them on the school wall. We look forward to the spring when the plants wake from sleep and our garden is filled with even more color. Thanks Amy and our eighth graders, too!

CitySprouts Celebrates!

The CitySprouts School Garden Celebration on Saturday at the Tobin School was well attended and a terrific success for CitySprouts, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. It was also a great day for Cambridgeport. Our table with its informational display about our woodland shade garden and research about vertical gardening (which included information about Woolly Pockets and Green Living Technologies' growing panels) generated a lot of interest. The GLT living wall, courtesy of Jan Goodman at Cityscapes in Boston, brought many people to our table. Everyone who stopped by was either amazed or excited for us. School Superintendent Jeffrey Young was surprised at the different types of vertical growing and super enthusiastic. City Councillor Leland Cheung listened carefully about our school's shortage of sunny space and all our plans. He asked to keep him posted—he may have a lead for us re possible funding. Lastly, with the enterprising help of C'port middle schoolers and CitySprouts summer interns Kester and Allie, donations for our garden totaled $86. Thanks Allie and Kester!

Just as exciting, the day before the event two different articles about our garden plans appeared in the Cambridge press—the links are here:

Cambridge Chronicle — Cambridge’s CitySprouts celebrates edible wall, new garden

Cambridge Day — Cambridgeport kids bring 'edible walls' to CitySprouts celebration Saturday

Below are photos of our display at the event. Also be sure to check out the Cambridgeport PTO website, which has additional photos from planting day September 28.

Getting Our Garden Off the Ground!

Tuesday, September 28, was one of the busiest garden workdays so far, and rainy too, but parents, students and CitySprouts staff dug in and got dirty—and it looks beautiful!

Many thanks to Alice, our garden coordinator, and CitySprouts exec director Jane Hirschi who kept planting in the wet, wet rain along with garden committee member Andy and even dynamo 5th grader Helen S. Also a tremendous thanks to Jan of Boston plantscaping firm Cityscapes, who brought a 7-foot stainless-steel growing frame along with bunches of beautiful plants. Jan spent three hours showing 10 students how to carefully plant in each panel, then with Alice's and Andy's help hoisted the panels onto the frame in our entrance hall. Jan's moving this beautiful living wall to the Tobin school for us in time for Saturday's CitySprouts School Garden Celebration, from 11 am to 3 pm. (Thanks also to Wade Lindhorst, who stayed his chipper self even though we overtook so much Community School classes space.)

Lastly, many thanks to JK assistant teacher Kristen Emack, who took gobs of great photos, many of them below. With her skills we were able to land an article about our school in Cambridge Day, with possibly more coverage to come. See the article here.

It's Harvest Time!

We're back, folks! Cambridgeport's garden is taking off! Keep checking back for updates and photos—lots of exciting garden news coming this fall.

Tuesday, September 28: Planting Day! Eveyone is welcome to help plant Cambridgeport's Woodland Garden after school, 2 to 5:30 pm. We'll be planting rhododendron, mountain laurel, dogwood and other native shade plants behind the school. We will ALSO be planting colorful cabbages, chards and pppers into a mobile vertical growing frame, courtesy of CityScapes in Boston. No other school in Cambridge or Boston has a vertical growing system like this!

Saturday October 2: CitySprouts School Garden Celebration. Come see what all the K–8 schools in the district have been up to with their gardens during the past year. The theme of Cambridgeport's display is "Getting a Garden Off the Ground" and will focus on vertical gardening. At the Tobin School, 11am to 3pm—held outdoors if the weather is good, indoors in the cafeteria in case of rain.

Notes from Cambridgeport Garden Committee Meeting

September 14, 2010

Attendance: Alex (parent), Shirley Harvey (parent liaison), Andy (parent), Monica (parent), Katie (principal), Jason (chef at Bondir Restaurant at 279A Broadway), Alice Gugelmann (CitySprouts)

Agenda:

• Upcoming planting and event dates
• Vandalism prevention in new woodland garden
• Plan for Cport’s table at CitySprouts’ Garden Celebration, Oct 2nd

Action list:

• Alice will confirm and order plants, mulch, compost for Sept 28th planting days, talk with Amy the art teacher about making signs for plants, make flyers to hand out to neighbors
• Alex will complete a sketch of raised beds in time for Tuesday 21st Back-to-School night, and will pick up birch logs for border on weekend of 24th
• Monica will publicize Sept 28th planting day and Garden Celebration Day, and will continue to work on displays for “Getting a Garden off the Ground” table

1. Vandalism prevention in new woodland garden:

• To curb potential vandalism in the newly planted, back-alley garden, we will consider lighting the space (flood lights? Christmas tree lights in the trees, like in Inman Square?), so that kids can’t loiter there in the complete dark. Also, to make it clear that the space is by and for children, we’ll put up children-made signs with plant names and information. We’ll send out flyers to the adjacent neighbors to ask them to keep an eye out.

2. Cambridgeport’s table at the CitySprouts Garden Celebration (11 to 3pm, Oct 2nd, Tobin School)

• Monica has pulled together the materials and theme (Getting a Garden off the Ground) for the Cport table, focusing on vertical gardening and the process by which Cport has built garden space.
• Monica needs help staffing the table on Oct 2nd! Please contact her if you can be there for an hour or two - mvelgos@pipeline.com

More information:

http://agreenroof.com/urban-farms/mobile-edible-walls/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbr4fHTOrK4