Under Construction!

So much really DOES depend on a red wheelbarrow! William Carlos Williams had it right!

I may have blistered toes and fingers, scrapes and bruises, but we have made such tremendous progress in the garden, I can honestly say it has all been worth it!

Armed with instructions and a shopping list from Ivan Katz of Great Lakes Landscape and Design, Inc., I headed to Lowe's to pick up some materials we needed to ensure proper drainage.

We began with a garden of weeds; once again, Matt Zimmerman, WBHS Class of 2005,  came to the rescue! (You'll remember Matt from the initial groundbreaking post back in May.)

One weed did NOT want to give up its home. You'll also want to note just how low the garden bed was when we began - ground level!

We had to create a "bladder" for drainage. We wrapped the drainage pipe in weed fabric and pea gravel and pinned it shut. This will help to prevent the dirt from washing out of the garden.

Rebecca Kruth of NPR stopped by and interviewed us for a story!

Because the courtyard is hemmed in by classrooms and offices, we had to bring all of the materials in by wheelbarrow - all FOUR YARDS of pea gravel and all NINETEEN YARDS of dirt! Thank you to everyone who loaned us wheelbarrows and shovels!

At some moments I feared the pile would never end!

Fortunately, I had a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people.

Thanks to my fellow WBHS teacher Brandy O'Connell-Wilson (and Jack!) for helping!

Thanks, Amy Goldman and Bobby Efros!

I LOVE my students. Love them! Look at this turnout!

We had so many volunteers! So many WBHS students, a couple of alums, a fellow teacher and her daughter, parents, community members, and West Bloomfield Education Foundation Board member Kevin Goldman - there is no way that this kind of project would have been possible without all hands on deck. Some of my students came back two, three, even four times! To each and every person who shoveled, hauled, pulled, pushed, dumped, spread, raked, and more - THANK YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Finally, the bed was raised! Today we finished off by creating steps into the garden. We still have to order some more steps, but if the plants came tomorrow, we would be ready.

Thanks, Tim, for all of your hard work! We couldn't have done it without you!

We are officially UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

Thank YOU for all of your donations - your money helped to purchase the materials we used to get the garden started!