SAXTONS RIVER — Volunteers this November put the finishing touches on three raised beds anchoring the first phase of an ambitious community garden at Saxtons River School, and say plenty of opportunities remain for volunteers of all ages.
Another three raised beds are planned, making one for each class in the K-5 school. Volunteers filled those first beds with rich soil and compost, planted garlic, and built three leaf-mulch bins.
The Saxtons River Community Garden committee, a member of the Greater Falls Community Garden Collaborative, say they hope this project will be the start of a larger community garden space, accommodating additional gardening plots, workshops and community events.
Teachers, staff, and administrators at the Saxtons River School, backed by the School Board, say they are eager to tie the new school garden space to classroom curricula.
The garden committee say they were inspired to act by the work of Post Oil Solutions and the gardens at Central Elementary School and Bellows Falls Middle School. They've been meeting for the past six months to plan this project.
Those who've contributed goods and services to date include Applewood Custom Sawing in Putney, Pinnacle View Equipment of Walpole, N.H., Erskine R.B Inc., in Chester, Bazin Farm in Westminster, Walter Kesek in Saxtons River, and Vermont Academy.
Anyone interested in joining the effort, either on the school garden project or community garden plots, can contact garden coordinator Cindy Hebbard (cindy@wisdomofhealingcom), Christine Armiger (carmiger@vermontacademy.org), Rose Avenia (raveniatapper@yahoo.com), or Susie Peters (speters@vermontacademy.org).