A Garden assignment is hands on, wear the rubber boots, trowels-in-hand type practical work in one or more of the MG-sanctioned gardens around King County.
For those of you who read my earlier blogs, you'll remember I was interested in taking on the Tribal Trail and South Water Treatement Plant gardens, but it turns out my personal calendar isn't complementing the needs of those sites, so I've had to change plans..... so this year I'll be going with the Bellevue Demo Gardens instead.
They offer a cool program for interns..... it's called the Intern Rotation Paths. It's made up of three different paths, each with a specific set of "trails" to follow:
1. GENERAL GARDEN PATH: a) Greenhouse trail, b) Soil Management trail, c) Tree care and pruning trail, d) Children's garden trail, e) Native plants trail.
2. GARDEN OPERATIONS PATH: a) Public education trail, b) Clinic trail, c) Equipment trail, d) Garden management trail.
The demands for each trail vary.... some require a one-time visit for a few hours, others require multiple visits over a season. Each trail is owned by an MG-manager who sets the plan/schedule for the year and determines what needs/gets to be done and when. We can do things in any order we want based on personal schedules and what's being offered/when. Pretty flexible, and for the likes of me - someone who works full time and has plenty of other committments on the calendar - I can work it into the schedule and still make progress/feel like I'm contributing to the cause.
Personally, my goal is to ultimately complete each and every trail on each and every path..... no hurry, just chip away at it over time..... will probably take a number of years, but that's OK. There's a lot of good learning and practical experience to be had! I'll be one smart MG if I get through that lot!
So, today, April 3rd, I went for an initial visit to get oriented to things, meet the folks and generally muck in and help where needed. Shift was from 9am - 1pm. It was one of the first "big" days for MGers to come out and get things ready for the upcoming season. Time to clear and condition the beds, weed pathways, rake up leaves/tidy things up, pruning/trimming and generally get things ready for planting.
We spent about 2 hours or so digging in and then stopped for a break and team meeting.
A time for introducing the new interns, welcoming transfers from other clinics/gardens, getting reacquainted and discussing plans for the upcoming season. In the weeks to come we'll be getting a "manual" with more details about the demo garden, who owns what area, plans for the season and schedules for when tasks need to be done etc.
Next door to the Demo Garden is this lovely pea patch area..... numerous little plots, many of them neatly tended and already looking pretty with early spring plantings.....not part of the Demo Garden, but sure is nice to have them for neighbors!
There's also this very nice building between the pea patch and Demo Garden that's owned by the county. We're able to use it when we offer lectures and other educational activities for visitors.
All in all, the Demo Garden covers a little over an acre of land, carefully layed out with numerous little raised beds and terraces that offer examples of all types of garden: herb garden, bog garden, native garden, drought tolerant garden, annuals garden, perennials garden, veggie garden.... the list goes on and on!
I'll be working hard here for sure, but will also learn a lot...... already met some very nice people passionate about gardening, and who obviously love being part of this Demo Garden team..... got lots to look forward to in the seasons to come.
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