There was a bustle of activity on August 14 at St. Mark and the Community Garden as 19 youth, 2 interns and an instructor from Olympia High School’s new farming program visited. This new program is designed to give high school students an alternative way to achieve their graduation requirements. During the summer they work full-time on Olympia High School’s new farm off of Yelm Highway. During the school year they spend half a day at the high school and the other half of day at the farm, growing organic fruits and vegetables for the Olympia High School district and local food banks. They also receive high school credit in biology, for example, for their work and studies on the farm.
As part of the summer program they participate in field trips and service each Wednesday to various other local farms. At St. Mark, the students were greeted by Gail F, garden coordinator, and Brent C. Gail provided an overview of how our garden got started and what makes it unique. Since the St. Mark Community Garden and the Olympia H.S. garden both recently received donations of raspberry plants, Brent provided the students with a lesson on how to train and prune raspberries. This lesson was followed by a tour of the garden which included both the raised beds and the field production area. The students were fascinated by the variety of plants being grown in the garden. The giant sunflowers received the most interest.
After the tour, a great lunch was served thanks to the generosity of Earla, Karen, Joyce O., Joyce N. and Bergel. There were even cupcakes with birthday candles to help celebrate two students who had birthdays.
After a good lunch it was off to the garden to work. The students divided themselves into two groups. One group was eager to weed so they tackled weeding the potato patch one last time before harvest. The second group worked on constructing and installing a wood and wire trellis system for the new raspberries so that they could start to be trained properly while they are still young.
Len B. supervised the construction project and thanks to his tools, expertise and patience it was a smooth operation that the students enjoyed. They also learned a few new skills in the process.
We are grateful for the new relationships and learning that the St. Mark Community Garden is able to offer and for the service that these young farmers in training from Olympia High School provided to us.
