Volunteering at The Hazel Dell School and Community Garden
Last summer, while watching Garden Time, a fun local gardening show, I saw the segment on the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden. And I pointed to the television and said, "I want to do that!"
I volunteered for two years with the OSU Master Gardeners and I never found my niche, so I quit.
But, watching this five minute interview inspired me to contact the WSU Master Gardeners and retake the classes and tests. And now, I'm officially a WSU Master Gardener Trainee for the next year. And I've already volunteered three times at the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden.
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| Hazel Del School and Community Garden Entrance |
They installed a large fence to keep out The Neighborhood Miscreants
that kept cutting up the greenhouse to get inside.
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| The view from the back corner of the garden. |
This past Thursday, I helped out at the Enrichment Fair at Hazel Dell School. Barbara taught first and second grade students about lettuce. The students studied the various kinds of lettuce leaves under a lens. Then she guided them through a taste testing where they wrapped a cheese stick in their various lettuce leafs and dipped them in ranch and salsa. I watched students begin the class looking at the green leaves like they were the nightly enemy on their dinner plate, only to exclaim how much they loved spinach by the end of the class. Pow! Take that McDonalds! Each of the three groups chose baby spinach as their favorite green. A lovely surprise.
After lunch, a group of 20 Clark College students came for a work party. The students were friendly and worked hard on a gorgeous afternoon.
A student found a rogue carrot and happily exclaimed, "It's so dirty!"
Thank you Barbara and Bobbi for building this community garden!