yes we will garden!

Some of you may be wondering if we will still be working in the Cherokee garden this weekend considering that Cherokee is listed as closing on all 3 initial plans put out by the Operation Schoolhouse task force. The short answer is YES! I expect our big day to work on Cherokee will be Saturday,April 9th 2011. We will also be picking up trash around town and weeding the bed at the Welcome To Turley sign during the weekend of April 8th 9th and 10th. The long answer is I will be meeting with Cherokee teachers Monday to discuss the garden/outdoor classroom and with students Friday to discuss the outdoor classroom as agreed upon before the plans were revealed. Because our outdoor classroom (every inch of the school grounds!) is relatively new the school board has not had time to realize what an asset it is and it is up to us to make this clear. Teachers students and books can be moved from building to building but the garden is impossible to truly move and slow to recreate at a new site. This garden approach to the school landscape also makes Cherokee an ideal feeder school for McLain High School where the horticulture program and greenhouse have been revived. This was the first winter for our bird banquet and even though only one mockingbird eyed me warily from the roof the day we hung the bird feeder several birds of several species can be found eagerly looking on when you stop by now to fill the feeders. Last summer we fed the community with radishes tomatoes and other crops the students started in the vegetable garden and this summer will be the first season to watch the life cycle of the Monarch and other butterflies in the milkweed and nectar gardens we planted last fall. The trees the boy scouts from troop one planted last fall seem to have made it through the winter and are ready to provide nesting sites and food for wildlife. The foundation plantings will be lovely and I am ready to add groundcover plants to make care of the foundation plantings easier. I have showy evening primrose plants and blue fescue seeds and would welcome donations of sedum or native groundcovers to plant this weekend at the base of the shrubs in front of the school. We also have a mountain of mulch to move, weeding and planting and tidying up in all areas and I had hoped to extend the prairie this year and add hummingbird friendly plants to the south fence. The surviving boxwood in the courtyard needs to be shaped, I picture it carved into a bookworm. We also have Star of Texas Hibiscus seeds to share. So yes we will have our annual spring garden work festival and continue to celebrate the Cherokee Elementary School Outdoor Classroom. If we can effectively articulate what an asset this school is to the Tulsa Public School system, I will see you at our fall garden party as well! http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kwgs/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1782856/Local..and..Regional/Project.School.House.The.Turley.Impact