With the days getting colder, we’ve had some of our last weeks out in the garden until next season. During this time, we have been working on finishing to clean everything up for the winter and making our compost bin. It took us two weeks to build, but we finally managed to put it together!
The first weekend, we started out with five shipping pallets donated by the Swarthmore Department of Grounds, a bit of scrap wood, and some nails. We sawed down the pallets so they would fit together nicely, and started to hammer them together. It was tough going at first, since the wood was so hard, but we eventually got the hang of it and managed to put together a frame.
hammering the pallets together
We couldn’t get too many hands in on the building, so we spent a lot of time on some art projects. We started out by making some nice snowflakes out of construction paper. When we got bored of that, we began to make some masks. We also played around with pipe cleaners- making bracelets, flowers, and other creative designs.
Akirah showing off her mask
We came back the following weekend to finish up the compost bin. Equpped with a roll of mesh and some hinges, we hammered together a door frame using scrap wood, which we lined with mesh so nothing would fall out. We attached the door to the frame we built last week with hinges, so it can be easily opened whenever the compost needs to be turned. Check out the finished product! And Sara putting in some plants we pulled up a few weeks ago- out first batch of compost!
the completed bin!
the inaugural compost
Again, not everyone could be working on the building at the same time, so a few of us spent more time on arts and crafts. This week, we drew pictures of the garden. Since it was so chilly this Saturday, we had to take some breaks to do exercises around the garden to warm up. We took turns leading jumping jacks, skips, and other activities.
playing follow the leader to get our blood flowing!
We had a special snack of baked apples with cinnamon this week, left over from the previous night. Some EJ members had a dinner meeting with Chester residents to talk about possible future plans for exapanding the garden project. Look for more news about this coming next semester!
As always, check out our Flickr for more photos.
We wish everyone a happy and healthy holday season!!
The Ruth Bennett Community Farm - Chester, PA 