Gardeners at the Elkhorn Middle School had a busy season! Many students and adult volunteers worked together on several worthwhile projects throughout the year.
Gardeners waited anxiously for spring of 2022 to arrive in order to check out seeds that were fall planted in early November. Sugar Maple seeds, Red Bud seeds, Tamarack seeds, and Whiter Cedar were included in the fall planting experiment. Seeds were planted in marked rows, covered with wet leaves, and protected by grates over the winter. Results yielded about a dozen Sugar Maple trees, a dozen Red Bud trees, and none of the other species. Thanks to a 9-ton donation of prairie topsoil from Allan Polyock of Zenda, the group will have twice as much area to experiment with next fall. 3 River Birch were also grown from seed in 2021 as well as a dozen weeping willow trees.
Volunteer, Mike Vance continued to furnish wood chips for a path through the garden area and FFA students pitched in to move material to areas where needed.
Mr. Fisher and Mr. Kurth teamed up with Mr. Hutson and FFA to restore the original mulched path leading to the large prairie pothole bordering the garden area. This was a huge undertaking that required many hours of hard work, but the teamwork paid off. Former teacher, Mr. Todd Heritage had constructed a T-shaped boardwalk that still connects the path to the prairie pothole. Students are now able to access pond water for testing and study of microscopic organisms living in the pond.
Another group of incoming 6th graders and parent volunteer, Mrs. Cyndi Borgen took on the restoration of 4 memorial benches located at the beginning of the garden trail. Mr. Mcburney made repairs to one of the benches and Mr. Trewyn arranged for the stain and brushes needed to complete the restoration.
And finally, the FFA garden was planted with peppers and tomatoes donated by Mr. Kruse and the high school FFA group and squash seeds donated by Ms. Eryca Card and the Builders Club. The garden also has cucumbers, beets, kale, peas, sweet peas, green beans, chives, asparagus, onions, milkweed, cosmos, dill, zinnia, royal red catchfly, peach daylily, red bee balm, giant Indian plantain, and potatoes donated by Mrs. Dailey. A watering system was installed by FFA students to care for plants over the summer.
Thank you to all who ventured out to help in some way! Your efforts really made a difference! And if you haven’t been out there yet, take a walk, check out all the projects or come up with one of your own! This is a large area with plenty of room for everyone!
(Article by Sonya Dailey volunteer gardener)
