I'll Have a Work Day, Please... and make it a DOUBLE

What's better than a work day in the Fall at the beautiful Filbert St. Garden?

2 back-to-back work days at the beautiful Filbert St. Garden!

Last Thursday and Friday marked the garden's first 48 hour garden day.

Students from Curtis Bay Elementary/Middle christened the new outdoor classroom, and used the opportunity to learn about native plants and to plan their planting.
Teachers and students were joined by helpers from Ben Franklin High School, the community, Parks and People Foundation, UMBC (thanks Lacey and Jenny!), and Towson University's Tree Club and the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority.  Special thanks to the Tree Club of Towson University for providing the funds to purchase ALL of the plants, compost, and materials for the planting!

So, what did we accomplish?
With help from over 60 students, 25 college volunteers, and the cooperation of numerous partners, we planted close to 60 native species (including Goldenrod, Golden Alexander, Clover Bush, False Blue Indigo, and Viburnum) Mulched over 800 square feet of invasive grass, planted and pruned grasses and bulbs, and prepared for the final step in finishing our outdoor classroom (more on that next time!)

What a Summer Season!

For those who haven't visited the garden since the beginning of summer, the next time you stop by, you will be absolutely shocked!
As the school year came to an end, our student gardeners cooked their harvest of Potatoes, Onions, Brussels Sprouts, Peppers and Greens into a delicious campfire meal.

As summer marched forward the garden took on it's first intern, Montarius, who joined through a program with the Chesapeake Center for Youth Development. He worked closely with Garden Manager Jason Reed to build a new shed, repair and old one, and he helped to facilitate the 2 garden summer classes.
The first class was around 15 high school students working through Youth Works.  In their month at the garden they planned and planted a native fruit bush orchard.  They drew a to-scale map of their site, amended the soil, planted the plants, built and installed bench seating and painted the new shed.

Our second class came from the Curtis Bay Rec Center's Summer Program. These Elementary and Middle School students worked with Montarius, Jason, and CBEMS teacher Dave Dallas to build a cob pizza oven.  They worked very hard learning about the different kinds of heat, digging a foundation, making their own cob cement, and finishing their oven.  By the summer's end, they had their first pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven they built!

All of us at Filbert Street Garden are excited for the fall-
We will be working closely with students from UMBC and Towson to bring this beautiful space even closer to the community!

Outdoor Classroom Space Takes Shape!!

For the past 2 months, the Filbert St. Garden has been working closely with teachers and students at Curtis Bay Elementary/Middle, as well as with volunteers from the community and from as far away as Cleveland, to finish the first phase of our Community Outdoor Education Space.  Grants from the Captain Planet Foundation, Whole Kids, and Child First Authority have made so much of this progress possible.

A huge aspect of the outdoor education space is the planting of a Native Plant Garden.  Designed as an integral part of the outdoor classroom, growing areas, and community circle, the plan for our native garden calls for over 250 individual plants, spanning close to 40 species!

Students from CBEMS have spent the last few weeks learning about the importance of native plants.  They have learned techniques that landscape architects use when designing and planting.  Some students have even come away with a fantastic amount of knowledge about the plants they are working with.

All of this work led up to a culminating planting day

Students worked hard to remove invasives from the planting area.

They selected their plants from species of Milkweed, Native Grasses, Coral Bells, Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Red Bud, Winterberry, Sweetspire, Pepper Bush, Choke, Elder and Service berry, Coneflower (Echinacea), Goldenrod, Hyssop, Aster, Bee Balm, Sensitive Fern, Foxglove, and Foamflower.

With help from Mr. Dallas, Ms. Wells, Mrs Scotti and Mrs. Ferguson, and Mr. Jason and Jeff Bothe, students dug a hole,





amended the soil with organic compost,

"tickled the roots" to encourage growth in their plants, 

and watered their new garden.

While doing such a large planting certainly had it's challenges, one of the huge rewards came at the day's end, when students and volunteers alike could look out over their community's water tower and see over 1,000 square feet of beautiful gardens, native plants, nature trails and classroom.  

So far this project has involved 7 teachers, over 50 students, and numerous volunteers, in a sustained effort to build one of the most effective outdoor classrooms in Baltimore City!

The opportunity for us to recognize the individual's power to inspire real and true change is not something that will fade with the onset of summer vacation, or that will be lost in the years to come.

Thanks to everyone for all your hard work!