From left are Creslane Garden volunteers Levi Bates, 8; Ian Bates, 6; Kenny McCabe (back), Connor McCabe 8; Sue Finley (back); Kayla McCabe; Logan McCabe, 4; and Naomi Bates, 2. Erin Tierney/The Creswell Chronicle
The garden at Creslane Elementary School had seen better days, and parent Kayla McCabe had finally had enough of it.
”Every day I pick (my son) up and I see it get worse and worse,” she said. ”The grass was almost as tall as the fence. I remember when it was usable and you could walk through it.”
With summer just a couple weeks away, she sensed an urgency in the project. ”We’re running out of time for the kids to enjoy it,” she said to her husband, Kenny. So, they decided to go for it.
They talked with the school and collected a few volunteers and donations from businesses in the community including Goshen Forest Products and Forest Floor Organic Soils – all of which happened in the span of a few days.
The goal is to clean up and get vegetable starts growing in the next couple of weeks. The biggest task they need help with is clearing out the garden beds because they are overgrown with two to three feet of grass. ”Helping hands, as many hands as we can get involved with this,” are needed she said.
Parents are donating vegetable starts that will grow in the next couple of months as well as organizing plant starts for next year, so the students can be involved in planting them and watching them grow.
McCabe added that beyond beautification, fixing the garden will allow for more educational opportunities. In the past, students grew vegetables that they would be able to eat with their lunch, and she said that getting kids back outside and taking part in what they are eating is important.
”No one wants to sit in the classroom all day, so if you can come outside for a little bit with your class I think that can keep their interest a little better,” she said.
Additionally, there are plans to bring back the Garden Club, which used to meet for an hour after school a couple times a month. Parents, staff and students would water the plants and pull weeds.
There is a lot of potential with the garden, and it is something that extends beyond being a benefit for the school, but also for the community, she said.
”I’m just so thankful that everyone is trying to help out as much as they are,” she said. ”It’s a big project and if we all work together I’m sure we can get this done really, really well.”
To get involved, email McCabe at [email protected], call 541-337-1500 or Facebook@ Creslane Elementary Garden.
