Sitton Elementary Learning Garden

Sowing excitement while teaching kids and community about food production

Till Next Time Farms is really excited to be working with Sitton Elementary in our neighborhood to set up a school learning garden. 

We are so excited about this collaboration and have an extensive plan in place. We have already repaired and moved existing raised beds and have plans to build new ADA approved raised beds. These upgrades will add over 500 square feet of gardening space at the school.

A school learning garden

Gardening provides various forms of engagement for children from participating in the gardening lifecycle (planting, maintaining, and harvesting), to learning to work cooperatively in groups. It is also a great way to learn about science and nutrition in a real-life setting. Most of the produce harvested in the garden will be utilized in school meal programs or given to the families of children that participate in the gardening program.

Accessibility plan

The garden plot now has a compacted gravel pathway that is both limited mobility and wheelchair accessible. An upcoming project includes completing the row of raised beds by adding in two ADA approved raised beds. These will allow for a wheelchair to roll underneath the beds making growing produce easier for students who use mobility devices. 

Day 1 – Rearranging raised beds at the farm plot
Day 1 – Rearranging raised beds at the farm plot
Day 1 – Rearranging raised beds at the farm plot
Day 1 – Grant and Ash posing after a successful first day of work
Day 2 – 12.5 Cubic yards of premium compost get delivered.
Day 3 – Volunteer work day with neighbors moving compost onto the beds.
Day 3 – Volunteer work day with neighbors moving compost onto the beds.
Day 4 – A rare use of a tiller on the farm as we mix compost into the top soil for the ground beds.
Day 4 – A rare use of a tiller on the farm as we mix compost into the top soil for the ground beds.
Day 5 – Grant uses the skid steer to cut the trench for the ADA gravel path
Day 5 – Grant uses the skid steer to cut the trench for the ADA gravel path
Day 5 – Grant uses the skid steer to cut the trench for the ADA gravel path
Day 6 – Wooden frames are put in place for plot borders and paths
Day 7 – 65 tomatoes and 1 lonely tomatillo are planted in beds SE2 and SE3.
Day 7 – 65 tomatoes and 1 lonely tomatillo are planted in beds SE2 and SE3.
Day 8 – Beds are restrung and cleaned up to ensure proper bed and path spacing.
Day 8 – Beds are restrung and cleaned up to ensure proper bed and path spacing.
Day 9 – Volunteer work day to move 7.5 cubic yards of gravel into ADA path. Card board is also laid down on paths to help keep grass pressure down.
Day 10 – A plate compactor is used to compact the gravel in the ADA path and create a stable, level surface.
Everyone felt great after we moved all of the gravel into the path
Day 11 – Wood chips are delivered from Portland Public School workers who trimmed trees on site!
Day 13 – We’re implementing the Florida Weave method of training tomatoes at the school.
Day 14 – We recieved our second chip dump courtesy of For The Love of Trees Inc.
Sitton Elementary is a Dual lingaul school which means all signage needs equal English and Spanish billing.
Sarah with the first vegetable harvest at the Sitton elementary plot!
Grant makes the first delivery of veggies to the Sitton food pantry, roughly 30 lbs of summer squash!
Grant and Devin showing off the newest infrastructure piece at Sitton.
We added a shade cove for the lettuce to protect it from the summer heat.
Our second weeks delivery of food into the Sitton food pantry!
Tomatoes are coming out of the garden soon! Devin harvested a few small cherries tomatoes this week.
Grant and Devin spent a day and a half pruning tomatoes to help with airflow and harvesting.

Garden layout

The garden plot has three rows of garden beds on the ground and a row of raised beds. The paths between the beds are lined with wood chips and the path next to the raised beds is compacted gravel to allow for easier mobility access. 

Workspace tables were added between the raised beds to allow for easier working and places for students to observe educational materials. Two, 4 tiered strawberry pyramids were built to act as a showpiece for the garden entrance.

The middle garden bed is planted with tomatoes and squash this year, but the bed has already been prepared to be a row of blueberry bushes starting next year (or late this year if we get a donation of bushes). Deep wells were dug and then back-filled with Douglas Fir wood chips and native soil for each bush to help provide a long term acidic environment they thrive in.

We are already planning to add in a few more rows to allow for more perennials and are putting in a grant application for funds to install an edible hedgerow. 

Garden map for July 27th
Garden map for July 15th
Garden map for May 28th

What we are growing

One of the requests from the school when we started this was to have things that are fun to pick. This year the plot has tomatoes (both cherry and slicers), peppers, squash, lettuce heads, onions, and basil. As summer progresses, turnips and a few mounds of winter squash are going to be planted. The summer flush of veggies will help provide extra learning activities for the students who participate in summer school programs as well. 

Worm buckets

If you get to walk by the school, you can’t help but notice the partially buried buckets at the far end of all of the garden beds. These are worm composting buckets and provide a farmer with a variety of benefits. Basically, a mix of dry materials and vegetable scraps are added to the buckets. Worms, which already exist in the soil, move in, and flourish in the food-rich environment. As they eat, they poop! Over time that poop builds up in the bottom of the buckets. When the time to harvest the worm dropping comes, we add another bucket on top of the stuff in the bucket and add start adding vegetable scraps and paper to it. The worms finish up in the bucket below and then move into the new bucket. After a little switcheroo, we have a bucket of worm castings to use in the garden to help improve the soil quality. 

When composting veggie scraps directly in the field, those nutrients stay close which helps create a sustainable system. 

A community effort

This project would not have been possible without the involvement of many different members of the community. We would like to thank all of the businesses who have donated materials and money as well as the many individuals who gave their time and money.

Thank you to the following:

Recology Organics – Western Machine Works – ACF WEST – Portland Decorative Rock – Interstate Rentals – Shur Way Lumber – Concentrates INC. – Linnton Feed and Seed – St. Johns Ace –  For the Love of Trees – Portland Public Schools – Doug – Ron and Karol P – Hannah and Kate Fillman – Anonymous – Tyler and Jen Joki – Keith – Josh P – Liz and Steve – Alfundo – Neesie Steinke – Gary and Gina Fillman – John Szafranski

 

Get Involved: Donate Here

 

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs – Karl Marx