Building Upcycled Raised Garden Beds Captures the Real School Spirit
It is not everyday that I get to meet the founding families for a school that I have been working to envision a learning program for. Perhaps that was what gave me the butterflies in my stomach as I awoke on Saturday morning.
It could also have been the fact that we had a huge revision in the plan on how to build the raised bed the night before. The original plan was to use boxes made of steel, but upon learning this Barna, one of the founders of Real School, strongly vetoed it. He had worked with steel companies, and knew the environmental toll this resource could take. So it was to be wood… something that in my opinion can be of mixed results as well. Many woods are treated with strong chemicals, making them less than ideal to grow plants in.
After being picked up by Barna and Fede, we zoomed to the hardware store. It was all new to me… my first adventure into stores I will for sure get to know better as we start more projects. We discussed the relative merits of some different wood, and then faced our next challenge, loading the goods into Barna’s electric car.
These things are made for commuting, but in a pinch the car proved versitile enough to carry the cargo to our location… minus a couple passengers.
With all the rushing about, we arrived late to our first rendezvous… not the type of impression I love to make, but thankfully the parents and kids were understanding and appreciative.
As we unloaded our car, Barna called me over to the future school yard. There were piles of rubbish, mostly wooden slats from a recent renovation in the area.
“Do you think we could use this stuff, it looks pretty good”, Barna commented.
I checked out the piles. Sure enough the old wood was in solid form!
“This is amazing, talk about good luck. Let’s use this, it is so much nicer looking. And even better, we are reusing waste material!” I replied.
On the spot we got our students, all of whom I had met minutes before, to shift from one plan to another. Talk about adapting to the times.
We developed a strategy for how to produce our garden beds, and then got straight to it. I felt overwhelmed with happiness to see parents, kids, and the Real School team working side by side to build our first project together.
As the idea of what we had to do moved from person to person, we became faster and more efficient. One aspect I loved was to see how readily our parents nurtured and helped the kids, some whom they had never met before, take ownership of the work. The majority of the screws holding the beds together were done by kids, as well as most of the sawing.
As we were building these boxes, another group was involved with Silvi, our permaculture expert for the day, on building out the beds. First came ground sheets to hold the water, gravel beds to act as a water reservoir, and then finally the soil and plants. Silvi did an amazing job designing, and was able to share the principles that went into these beds as they were developed.
Lunch also reflected much of what Real School is to become. Our Vegan chef, in charge of designing a plant based menu for our school, offered a taster menu to show some of the variety of foods our students would eat everyday. It was delicious, filling, and enjoyed by all. Sure, there are carnivores in our group. I have meat from time to time as well. That said, to create a school with a healthy environmentally friendly menu is an amazing accomplishment, and for that I am grateful to abide by a fully vegan menu at school… and no doubt the ethos will grow into other parts of my life as well.
What a first experience for all! I could not have asked for more out of an icebreaker with my new learners. They are a diverse group, with many interests and abilities. Now that I know a few of them, my mind buzzes with the possibilities of what we will be able to do in the coming years.
