The Boston Latin School Garden!
Composting
(Summer 2012)
Rain Catchment System
(Summer 2012)
Projects
During the summer of 2012, the United States had a major drought. It didn't affect Massachusetts as severely as other states, but it was still enough to lower the immune system of our plants so that we had serious problems with pests such as aphids (check out the blog about the loss of our kail to those little guys). As a result, we thought of building a rain catchment system - harnessing natural rainfall to water our garden. How cool is that? We won't have to use the school's water, therefore saving the school money and saving water.

Well, first off we needed a design. After some discussion we came up with a general idea of what we wanted it to look like. You can see copies of the plan below.
After summer had gotten well under way, we noticed that every week there was a substantial amount of waste going into the dumpster, from dried plant matter to aphid-eaten veggies and even the deformed pepper or two. What kind of green garden would we be if we continued to throw away perfectly good plant fodder? After a bit of deliberation (which received a unanimous YES), we all decided it would be best to get a compost bin. Well, a couple weeks later Green City Growers brought us what looked like weird black plastic pieces dotted with holes as well as some poles and after a few hours - ta da! A beautiful, green, composter. We immediately put it to use by adding some dried up nasturtium leaves, and it felt great to throw it in there instead of the trash.
After drawing the plans, we got them approved by the headmaster. Now all we need to do is buy materials and build the system and we'll be set!
(October 20, 2012)
That little cone you see sticking out near the bottom is, indeed, a cone. It sits atop sawdust and a recipe of other materials that help with the decomposition process of the compost.
Here at the garden we are always trying to improve our sustainability. As a result, every once in awhile we come up with little projects - "improvements", you might call them - that make our garden even greener. Check out what projects we've done so far below, and feel free to try doing what we've done! Trust us - these are awesome things that you can do in your own very garden, too.