Laraway Happenings: Plan 'Til You're Planted

This month, the Laraway Art Gallery is featuring a slightly different form of art- garden plans! The garden plans were made by students during a Farmer on Site lesson in January and their feedback was integrated into the 2016 garden design. Please stop by and check out the creative ideas students have for this upcoming growing season.

Plan ‘Til You’re Planted

On a cold January day, huddled inside a cozy, heated yurt, Laraway students directed their attention away from the snow on the ground outside and thought of sunshine, flowers, and tasty produce. During the first Farmer on Site of the year, the Land Stewardship team facilitated a garden planning workshop with school groups. Surrounded by pictures of creative garden designs, piles of books, and lots of colored pencils, crayons, and plenty of magazines to make collages, students got to work drawing a vision of what they would like to see in the Laraway gardens this upcoming year. Ideas big and small were crafted, including a hot pepper patch to be turned into tasty hot sauce, flowers of all kinds spread throughout the garden, and a dragon sculpture bench. Staff feedback also suggested a quiet space, pumpkin patch, and outdoor classroom. Students reminisced about produce they enjoyed last season and would like to continue to grow such as green beans, tomatoes, and carrots. As they flipped through seed catalogues, new types of plants caught their eyes such as sunchokes, wild roses, and rhubarb. From that planning session, a garden plan has been crafted and preparations are starting to be made for projects. Students will be starting seeds at the end of February, building projects will start up in March, and plants will be in the ground by April. We look forward to a creative, educational, and bountiful 2016 garden season!

If you have any ideas or would like to be more involved feel free to email Ginny (gcooke@laraway.org) or Cornelius (cornelius@laraway.org).