Irrigation System Nears Completion

Today there was a small but heavy rain fall at lunch.  I was optimistic our class would be able to go out and see the improvements on the garden. Right as class started it, stopped raining. This was good for our class because we haven’t seen the garden in a few days.  I was eager to get out there. Today was one of the hottest days I have ever felt. It was very humid and the sun's rays stung my back. Luckily, palm trees next to our garden gave us shade. At first glance there wasn’t really anything that was improved or changed, but on second glance, there were irrigation pipes running right next my garden bed.  The pipes will definitely be needed. They are important because they give water to our plants that need it on days like today. Our garden is really taking shape. I can't wait to start growing! 

by Nick

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Boiling hot outside, we walked to the garden. Leo had a flimsy, red umbrella—not the type you’d expect him to carry around, but, hey, Leo’s a good friend and I respect that—and everyone, roasting and sweating in the miserable heat, tried to grab a little shade.  While Leo walked to the garden, he accidentally poked Zack’s eye and did not even notice. When we told him what he had done, he did not believe us.  Luckily, Zack was okay and we had a few laughs out at our garden. 

When we got there we took pictures, looked around a little, and then we went back to the classroom. Once we got back we checked up on are plants that are growing on the porch and picked the best picture out of the five to right about.

In the picture you can see the pipes that have been laid down. The workers covered it with dirt, except for a small patch they have not finished. The PVC pipes (Poly Vinyl Chloride) will channel the water to the plant beds and water the future plants that will go there. We did not know how it would lead to the plant seeing it not being finished. Besides the addition of the pipes, everything else at the garden site was the same.  Soon the soil will be delivered and then we will fill the raised beds with it.

photo and article by Zach

Garden Bed Construction Update!

Several Photos of the Garden

by Leo

by Greg

Today we walked out as a class to see the workers working on the irrigation system.  This system is located along the north side of the maintenance building (what used to be the funeral home). The trench is about 10 inch wide and approximately one foot deep; the trench follows the wall of the building until the end when it cuts across the drive thru onto the garden area where it slant into the first bed.  The workers used a jack hammer, pick axe, and shovel to create the trench for the irrigation system.

All the large and small beds are finished. The aisles between the beds are about 3 to 4 feet wide. The beds are missing the soil mix (which we are still waiting to arrive), and the aisles need to be covered by gravel. Phase one almost looks finshed!

by Giancarlo

The Trench for the Water Line

In this picture you can see a trench in the ground about a foot or two deep. There’s a yellow string attached to a rebar next to one of the beds on one side and another rebar on the other side, which creates a straight line for the worker to make a trench along that line. In the trench they are going to lay a water pipe to channel water to the garden for sprinklers.

--by Zachary

Photo by Zachary



Getting Ready to Construct the Raised Beds!

Today we walked to the garden as a class.  We asked the workers how the process was going regarding the completion of the garden.  The workers walked us through the steps, and they told us about Phase One. 

Phase One is the first four long beds (4ft by 16ft) and the sixteen small beds (4ft by 4ft) which will be finished within 2 weeks. Phase Two won’t start until later. 

Mr. B explained that the four long beds would be used by the students with their partners, and the small beds would be used by faculty and staff members. The plants that we would be growing in our garden are going to be used by the school cafeteria.

--Story by Giancarlo

Picture by Nick

Mighty Machine at Work!

Zach took this picture as the "mighty machine" started clearing and leveling the land.  Once leveled, the maintenance crew will begin constructing the garden beds.

MCDS Community Garden - Construction Begins!

My name is Scott Brennan, and I am an upper school teacher in the Humanities Department at Miami Country Day School.  I also serve as the coordinator for the new MCDS Community Garden which is scheduled to be complete in time for this year's growing season.  I am thrilled to launch this blog which will chronicle the development of the garden.  My Language Arts class, along with members of the Garden Club, will post updates regularly, thus keeping you up to date with the exciting evolution of this project.

The organic garden, about 1/2 acre in size, will be located north of the North Parking Lot, behind the convenience store located on 6th Avenue.  Here are the plans for the garden, which will be constructed in two phases.  I designed the garden after consulting with David Koehn, the CEO of a company called Watch My Garden Grow, Gary Butts, and Mike Caban, the Head of the Maintenance Department.  Mike and his crew are doing an amazing job of developing the land and constructing the raised beds!