Wakato Academy

Community Garden Service Project

I had been looking for a place for my son to do some community service projects for some time.  The problem I kept running into is that a lot of the places to volunteer don't want kids, so finding the right fit for diverse aged family was not an easy task.  I stumbled across a homeschool group called Resources for Health Roots Roots and Shoots that organizes community service projects designed for kids.  We have been working with them for several months now to get a couple of projects off the ground. 

Our first project we started a couple of weeks ago was to put in a community garden at a local farm.  You might be thinking how does that work, a community garden on a farm?  But this isn't any farm its a dairy farm that happens to be in the middle of a growing city, where just 2 years ago there were no houses for miles they are being surrounded by sub-divisions and in an effort to preserve there farm there turning the farm into a great community resource for residents.  They are installing a botanical garden walk which our vegetable garden is part of as well as offering eduational opportunities to the community about conservation and farming.  We live just a few miles away and are enjoying the project immensly. 

Big Brother helped till the soil, placed rocks to line the walkways and planted some vegetables about 2 weeks ago.  Unfortunatly I wasn't much of a help as the pregnancy had me nearly fainting in the heat but I keep reminding myself that this is for Big Brother, not me so if he gets the opportunity to help and be a part of something bigger than I have achieved my goal even if I'm not at the top of my game. 

Today we went for our 2 week check-up and several of the plants we planted are now sprouting and the garden is really starting to take shape.  We also transplanted some small mesquite tree seedlings into containers to sell to raise funds for the garden.  And the kids really enjoyed flying the Giant Peace Dove for International Day of Peace.  Below are some pictures of our garden and the dove for you to enjoy...

Our Peace Dove on the march...

The Garden Growing....

The garden...

The peace dove marching around the garden....