What's New:
Permaculture Workshop coming in August
We are thrilled to be hosting "Essentials of Permaculture" presented by Bill & Becky Wilson, founders of Midwest Permaculture. This 2-day workshop being held on August 25 & 26 will combine classroom and hands-on learning. A discounted rate for the workshop is available through July 25, so sign up early! Visit Midwest Permaculture to learn more about the presenters, the course, and to register on line.
Volunteer opportunities this Spring
We have several volunteer days scheduled at the Trybal Revival Gardens this spring. Here are a couple with open participation:
• April 21, 9:00- Noon /
Volunteer Kalamazoo – Day of Service. Sign up on line or just show up at the garden at 9:00 AM (there will be festivities
at the garden that morning as Common Ground celebrates the opening of their new Community Garden Resource Shed)
• May 19, 9:00-Noon /
Sunnyside Methodist Church – Change the World. Sign up on line or in person at Sunnyside at 8:30 AM. Everyone participating in
the "Change the World" service projects are invited to gather afterward (noon) for lunch at Sunnyside Methodist Church.
We would also like to acknowledge with appreciation the hard work of the many WMU students who volunteered through “Spring into the Streets” on March 31. A lot of work got done this day by a lot of hard working, enthusiastic students. THANK YOU! (see the photo album on our facebook page)
A Seat in the Garden
Trybal Revival Gardens is thrilled to partner with K-College in their "Seat in the Garden" program. This is a for-credit literature class that is part of a Reading in the World: Environments program combining academic learning with service learning. As a service learning course students volunteer 3 hours each week throughout the semester helping in community gardens. We have a great team of six students who energetically and enthusiastically embrace the (labor-intensive) work we give them. We welcome the generous volunteer hours and the opportunity to share our vision of urban community greenspace with these eager young minds! They are delightful to work with and have taken a true interest in our gardens. We were happy to offer them a garden bed of their own and look forward to continuing to garden with them after their semester has ended.
Progress Report
- Community Garden
- We are happy to report that our Community Garden is full of gardeners (new and returning!)
- We have completed the larger ornamental bed outside the Community Garden along the street-side and planted it with some native ornamentals.
- We've planted some grape starts at each foot of the pergola and look forward to their (eventually) reaching the top and providing some delicious shade!
- The rainwater is hooked up and ready to use. We'll hook up the city water as a back up as soon as all danger of frost has passed.
- Eastside Eco-garden
- We've started planting our trees -- most of the fruit trees are in! Many more trees and shrubs to come.
- We've built the first of our community garden beds in the Eco-garden, our K-student-gardeners worked hard to create the bed and it will be their bed to garden.
- The Bees
- Two packages of Italian honey bees are due to arrive May 1 to establish our first-ever hives at Trybal Revival. Things will really be buzzin' 'round here soon!
- The Chickens
- We will be partnering with our friends and neighbors at Peace House on a chicken coop.
- Tomme serendipitously was asked to help remove a "shed" from a friends back yard—turns out that shed will make a perfect chicken coop! It's been deconstructed and transported to Peace House where it is awaiting re-construction any day now.
- Peace House has received a generous donation of chickens which are waiting in the wings (so to speak) for the coop to be prepared.
What's Next:
Up-coming Projects
- Community Garden
- We'll develop the ornamental bed on the other side of the arbor to complete the street-side beautification
- We may need to plot a more serious attack on the stubborn grass and weeds that is growing through the mulch.
- We'll be developing a more tidy and manageable system for our compost in the Community Garden
- Eco-Garden
- Planting, planting, planting, oh and did we mention planting?! There's lots of planting to keep us busy!
- Completing the perimeter fence around the site to keep out pesky varmints large and small!
- We'll be working in increments to sheet mulch and seed the entire turf grass base that now exists to convert it to a woodland meadow.
There's always plenty of work to be done here at Trybal Revival Gardens, if you want to come play in the dirt with us you are welcome!