Email received:  06-30-08

Hello Friends of the Sanbornton School Garden,
 
Nothing like a little challenge!
 
If you have been up to see the School garden you have likely seen some BAMBOO.  Yes indeed, we have an infiltration of bamboo in the garden.   So far we are lucky that there are still some sections of the garden that seem to have been spared; the cucumber mounds, several sections of tomatoes and at least 4-5 of the pumpkin mounds.
 
I am going to ask that the family "teams" just weed the soil right around the plants, and not worry too much about doing the specific section of your child's team since at least 2 of the sections are pretty heavily bamboo ridden.  I have attached a diagram of the garden so that you can see where the children planted, and what will need tending.   There are some large areas where we did NOT plant anything, largely because those were the areas where we suspected bamboo to begin with.
 
We hope that you can encourage the children to do their best and reassure them with the understanding that this too is part of nature!  We may be looking for a new spot for our School Garden next year .. but we don't have to give up on this one just yet!!
 
Thanks for all your continued support and let us know if you have any good ideas for what we can do with bamboo (or technically japanese knotweed)!! :)
 
Hope to see you at the Garden!
 
Kelly

Email dated:  05-29-08

 Dear Friends of the Sanbornton School Garden, 

Thank you Matt Swain for turning the soil today!  I talked to Sandie Sterling a little while ago and she commented on how exciting it is to see the garden starting to take shape. 

Thanks to Katie Surowiec too for donating tomato plants and herbs and thanks to Tilton Agway for donating some small whiskey barrels and flower seeds. 

Here is what we could still use some help with -- for any of you who are able. I undertsand this is a busy time of year for all of you so don't feel bad if you cannot help out just yet - but thanks in advance if you can! 

1)  We need a few folks who can donate their muscles to move rocks out of the field. Matt says they are not enormous (just football size) but they are big enough that we should move them before we rototil.  If you can stop by any time between now and next Tuesday and move a few rocks .. Thank You! 

2) Speaking of rototilling --- we will need a hand rototiller to do the final prep of the garden for planting.  That will be needed the middle of next week. 

3) Large container for rain capture - we are looking for a suitable container to set up a rain capture system at the garden site 

4) Help on planting day - we could use some "big people" hands to help out on the day the kids are actually planting in the garden. I dont have the exact date yet but we are expecting it to be the end of next week (June 6) or early the following week (June 9-11).  This should be great fun, and very rewarding. 

If you can help out with any of the above or know someone else who would, please let me know (yes its ok to volunteer friends without asking them first!!).   For those of you who have already contacted me about conducting educational sessions .. I will be in touch with you separately on that!

 Thanks again for all of your support.


Kelly