Mound Making

The moment that many of us have been waiting for has finally arrived. With the asphalt gone it is time to start sculpting the mounds for the kids to run and play on. Excavators came out to help us with grueling task.

‘Bamboos’ Barrier

In order to enclose the classroom and provide the kids with an intimate learning space we have decided to grow bamboo alongside the border. To prevent the bamboo from spreading a rhizome barrier was constructed.

Planting Plan

Plant expert Meghan has finalized the planting plan the entire backyard of the school. I am most excited about the trees! [Click to enlarge]

Our Sign!

Kevin designed us a pretty sign to put on display for the community to see what we are building for them. [Click to enlarge.]

Removing the Asphalt

With the work on the south side of the project getting closer to completion we needed to start removing the asphalt from the rest of the schoolyard. At the beginning it seemed intimidating, but we dug deep and found the confidence to remove it. Even Principal Veal got into the Bobcat to help us out.

Classroom Construction

In order to provide the kids with a space for learning outdoors, we continued our brickwork around the superplanter up to the gym area for a nice floor for the classroom. Amazingly extra limestone blocks from the CityGarden project were donated to us to be used as benches for the classroom space.

Finishing the Formal Garden

With the completion of the ‘superplanter’ we set out to finalize the formal garden space by adding some additional raised beds and a limestone chat path. We also started detailing the superplanter with pavers set into the topsoil. Once that was complete we invited some of the kids to help us plant!

Brick Path

After much deliberation, we decided to lay the bricks down in a herringbone pattern. We cut down the bricks to fit and laid them done. It looks so pretty!

Finishing the SuperPlanter

In order to finish the superplanter we connected wood to the posts and filled it up with topsoil. Some of the Patrick Henry kids helped us rake the topsoil. We also laid gravel down on the path behind the planter and then put sand on top in preparation to laid down the bricks.

Topsoil!

Yay! Topsoil got delivered from St. Louis Composting. Our future plants will be happy.

Lauren's Lunch

As the work days start to become longer and longer, Lauren decided to make us a feast for lunch to keep our spirits up and boost our productivity.

Serious Work

CLAYCO Vault

We got a nifty little vault donated from Clayco to help us store all of our supplies.

SuperPlanter Time

After laying out and digging holes for the posts of the ‘superplanter’ we laid posts and poured concrete.