Serious About Growing : The Cotswold School Garden Club

Cotswold school’s garden beds sit right out in front, but are easy to miss if you don’t know where to look.  There is no wood framing, just a series of humble mounds of soil placed far enough apart so that the first graders don’t dare mistake the third grade bed for their own.  I knew when the husky kid in the Green Bay Packers jersey correctly explained the difference between a spade and a shovel, that the Cotswold School Garden Club was serious about growing.

The kids practiced using garden tools to loosen the soil, demonstrating outstanding teamwork skills as everyone had a turn with the hoe, spading fork, and mattock before passing each tool to the next student.  To ensure a successful season, we amended the soil  with bone meal, dried blood meal, kelp meal and dolomite lime, and even had a few kale and swiss chard plants on hand to put  in the garden until it’s time to plant for spring.