Gardening done right
Student gardeners from Great Salt Bay Community School (GSB) were treated to a magnificent horse plowing demonstration in the spring of 2017, thanks to a collaboration between the school, Twin Villages Foodbank Farm (TVFF), Chewonki, and Damariscotta River Association (DRA).
Newly established last fall, the student garden is located behind the old ice cream shack at DRA’s Round Top Farm, within easy walking distance from the school. Students and teachers worked with GSB’s Agriculture Coordinator Margaret Coleman and Twin Villages Foodbank Farm Manager Sara Cawthon to prepare the plot and plant part of it with garlic in November. The rest of the garden was planted in cover crop for the winter.
In addition to providing hands-on learning opportunities, Coleman hopes the student garden will help forge connections with the community and increase understanding and awareness of food insecurity. “Everything grown in GSB’s Round Top Garden will be used by the GSB community, or donated to food pantries in the area,” said Coleman.
Coleman and Cawthon intend for the plot to be managed with organic and sustainable practices whenever possible. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides will be used.
So, when initial probing revealed the soil was quite compacted, Coleman contacted Chewonki Farm Manager Megan Phillips for help. Phillips plows her garden plots at Chewonki with the help a gentle American Belgian horse named Sal.
To the delight of Coleman’s student gardeners, Phillips was willing to trailer Sal to DRA’s Round Top Farm and put her to work in the new garden. Sal made a quick job of the 1,200 square foot plot, and charmed onlookers with her cheerful good nature. Also helping was Hilary Crowell, Assistant Farm Manager at Chewonki.
The plowing demonstration is the first of many education opportunities Coleman hopes to offer at the student garden to highlight the work Twin Villages Foodbank Farm is doing in the community.
Twin Villages Foodbank Farm grows vegetables using organic growing practices on two acres of land, located at Damariscotta River Association’s Great Salt Bay Farm. All food produced is donated to food pantries and other low income food programs in Lincoln County. For more information, visit TVFF’s website at www.twinvillagesfarm.org.
