Volunteer for the Garden
PS11 Parents, if you’d like to volunteer, just get on our mailing list by emailing ps11garden@gmail.com. We’ll have many volunteer projects in the Fall at different times to accommodate different schedules. Please help out!
Leaf Bin Finished in Plenty of Time for Fall Collection
Community Composting Project for our Street Trees
Rainwater Harvesting
Two Summer Campers Test Out the New Rainwater Capture at PS11 School
Building the rainwater harvesting system wasn’t easy for a bunch of amateurs. Lots of time at the big box home store staring at parts and trying to imagine how they connect. Lots of time talking about where and when and how and how much. Then finally, trying to get a spigot to fit into a pvc pipe and all seeming to be the wrong size. So, finally after all of that, the first test proved successful.
Now we need to get another barrel because I think we have a lot of runoff…
Leaf Composting Bins
2 Bin System for Leaf Composting
We’re almost there — community composting bins that are intended to turn street tree leaves and school yard trees into nourishing compost for the PS11 garden. Cedar boards give the project a nice look and smell really good. The leaf collection in the Fall should help keep lots of materials out of the waste stream. The bins will be finished in the next few weeks.
Rainwater Harvesting
The PS11 School Garden received a grant this Spring from Citizen’s Committee to build a rainwater capture system. Our amateur garden parent volunteers have finally completed phase one of the project which allows rainwater to be captured in a barrel and used to water garden plants. Whew.
The idea is to create a system where students can fill watering cans themselves and water plants. The overflow will flow into a rainwater garden area where plants will drink up the excess moisture.
Rainwater harvesting at PS11's school garden
Creating a “Pizza” Garden with Lasagna Techniques
This pizza garden bed will contain tomatoes, basil, thyme and oregano. We’re even including some flowers for the table. Soil is built using the lasagna technique.
Garden Committee mom shows students how to make a bed
Lasagna gardening is named from the process of layering organic materials that will cook down over time. This style of bed building can also be called “sheet composting,” because sheets of organic materials are put down between wet newspapers. As time passes, the organic material decays and produces rich soil.
The PS11 parent volunteer here is putting topsoil over the wet newspaper layer which is covering half-cooked compost. This was a dirty job but will grow amazing plants in a short time.
2nd Graders Plant the Shade Garden
The PS11 Garden has many tall, old locust trees. That’s why most of our plantings are shade plants. In 2011, the Garden Committee bought flats of shade “annuals” to plant next to the playground fence. The area is large and contains many perennials and bulbs as well. Many tender perennial plants were overwintered inside the classrooms as a lesson in sustainable gardening techniques. This was not lost on students and they loved to nurture tender perennials over the winter.
White impatiens really pop in the dappled shade under the locusts. Two small dogwoods live nearby the shade beds.
PS11 Second Graders Help out in the School Garden
Block Association Plants Tree Pits on 21st Street
On Saturday, April 30th, the 300 West Block Association organized an event to help trees along 21st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Chelsea. Volunteers added new compost, annual plants and mulch in the tree pits. The tree care activity was funded through a “Love Your Block” grant from Citizen’s Committee of NYC. Parent volunteers, students and neighbors were in attendance. Saleen Shah represented Citizen’s Committee and NY State Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried (D-75th District) stopped by for the event.
