GROUNDBREAKING!

On Monday, May 18th, we broke ground on the Literary Garden at West Bloomfield High School. I raced around before we cut into the sod, taking last minute pictures, wanting to document this entire process. Here is the area with which we began:

I could not have broken ground without the assistance of Matt Zimmerman, WBHS Class of 2005, and Scott Payne, WBHS Class of 1977.  Matt took the time out of his day to rent a sod cutter to make the process easier, and he and Scott brought shovels and rakes. Now if we had only remembered to bring a wheelbarrow...

Ready to roll!

 Breaking ground...

Rolling up turf like sushi rolls!

Sod ready for the compost bin (on order from the Earth Club) - we carried all of it by hand!

We also had a visit from the resident mama duck and her babies; they hatched in the courtyard this spring and have toddled around to the delight of both students and staff. Once we rolled up the sod, we uncovered all kinds of grubs and bugs for the ducklings to chase down and eat. By the end of the night, we were tired, sweaty, and sore, but the ducks feasted like kings!

The area is prepped and ready for fill dirt and topsoil. As we have spent our "seed" grant money from the West Bloomfield Educational Foundation, we are actively soliciting donations of money, fill dirt, or topsoil to move into the next phase of our garden. The plants will arrive in the fall, and I'll post again later this week to share some exciting news about additional author partnerships we have forged - I am so excited!!!

I also need to thank my dear Uncle Jimmy Peterson. He makes wooden birds for gardens as a hobby, and when I asked him to make a raven for our garden, he got right to work. Thanks, Uncle Jimmy!

Now the raven stands sentinel over the garden, waiting patiently for the next phase to begin!

Please contact me here if you would like to contribute in some way to our garden.