Pollinator Progress

As summer comes closer, and the weather is warmer each day, the STEM students venture out into Rand Park more and more often. Issy, Nicole, and I have finalized and begun work on our pollination garden in Rand Park. We are starting small, as the Board of Ed ruled, with a 10 ft by 3 ft garden beside Tony's brook.
First, we ripped off our plot of land, carefully choosing a space with good soil, in relatively good sun,   far enough from the path of any walking students, as well as the growing Japanese Knotweed. The invasive Japanese Knotweed is posing a struggle, as it's roots have grown deep and is growing widely across our land. Each day as we plant, we also try to remove as many of the knotweed roots as we can.
Clearing the land proved to be harder than we thought. It took more strength than we realized to hoe away the grass, roots, and rocks that resided in our plot. We enlisted our friend Amiri to aid us as cleared the ground.
With the ground finally clear, we were able to plant one flower, Bee Balm (Monarda.) Bee balm is a great flower, with beautiful vibrant colors, and it's name speaks for itself. The plant attracts many pollinators, but especially bees.
In the next few weeks we hope to continue planting a couple more Bee Balm plants, milkweed, (Asclepias), lavender (Lavandula), and hopefully Blue False Indigo (Baptista australis.) We are very excited within our group for the progress of our garden, as well as all the other gardens that seem to be growing out in Rand Park.

Issy and I, with Amiri in the background, taking a break to pose for a picture

Issy, Amiri, and I clearing the soil

Issy, Amiri, and I clearing the soil as Nicole looks up from her pots to smile