Greenhouse Celebration Workday at Rosa Parks

CROPPED_IMG_4067On Saturday, October 17, 2015 Rosa Parks Elementary School family and friends came together for a workday and BBQ to celebrate the completion of their new greenhouse in the Upper Garden! This greenhouse was made possible with a Community Challenge-PUC Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant. The goal of this project was to build a greenhouse and create a rainwater catchment system utilizing the new greenhouse roof and the existing chicken coop. The installation of a rainwater harvesting system will offset the garden’s irrigation requirements, help water and sustain our chicken population, support our 7500 square feet of green gardens, and engage the school community in tangible water conservation activities. The greenhouse will help us grow vegetables, which will be eaten during monthly school Salad Days, and starts, which will be sold to raise funds for garden education classes. 
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At the beginning of the week a great team of Rosa Parks volunteers and CommunityGrows staff met the truck carrying all the structures and material for the greenhouse. Patrick Costigan from Nest Builders spend the week with his assistant, Neville Clark, putting the Studio Shed greenhouse together. It was even more beautiful than we imagined!IMG_3841IMG_3846IMG_3849IMG_3855

On Saturday, a large crowd of parents worked in the gardens getting them ready for the fall school year, weeding, digging, mulching, planting and composting. Kat Sawyer from Tap the Sky, the lead project manager, worked with others on the water catchment component of the project.IMG_4017In the lower garden many volunteers gather to get assignments for the day.IMG_3896IMG_3882One activity was building seed beds for planting through soil-blocking.
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IMG_3974Other projects were weeding, planting and mulching.
IMG_3985IMG_4015Parents and their children also spent time in the upper garden watering and loosing up the soil.IMG_4020 For more great photos from the day, see our Flickr Photostream here. Also see a video from today on our YouTube Channel here.