Home Stretch

Another week gone by in Senior Project! We are almost done, which is really hard to believe. I remember the stress of it all last year when we were being pressured to think about what we wanted our projects to concern and now, here we are, almost at our journey's end. Sadly, nothing has changed since my last blog post- I have continued to compost with the 4th graders, but now only once a week instead of twice or more. They are still excited as ever about the garden that is kind of in limbo right now. Sometimes when I take a few volunteers to compost, one of them will talk about their garden at home, which always makes me excited. This weekend, I will need to uproot the remains of the pre-snow week garden so as to make room for the potatoes and other seeds which we will plant next week! I'm hesitant about planting this coming week though, because I hear of another possible snow day coming up sometime next week- we'll see. I think potatoes can take a frosting, though- they're tough. And I don't want to delay planting any longer! I'm eager to have new seedlings sprout from the ground!

 I really hope that my raised beds will be able to stay in place next year so that the 4th grade teachers can use it to their liking- but what with this new parking lot being installed and all, I'm not sure my gardening beds will remain. I have put a lot of time, energy, and even money into them and would really like to see them being used for educational purposes next year- I don't want my project to end when Senior Project is over- it's something that I would like to last at Oakbrook as a unique part of the curriculum and it's something that I hope will continue to grow. It's an introduction to a way of life that is out of style, yet I still think it a valuable way to live and to understand. Organic gardening is a basic concept of life's cycle, which I think it important to learn at a young age. Anyway, now I'm rambling about why I'm so passionate about my project. Hopefully next week, I'll have something more to talk about!