Twice this fall students from the Builders Club at Flat Rock Middle School have used their energy and skills to improve the community garden at Tyrone’s Hopewell United Methodist Church.
The first project addressed holes in the garden’s mesh deer fence which had been torn at ground level by armadillos, allowing rabbits, chipmunks, and other armadillos access to the vegetable plants. Twelve students and their faculty sponsor became a “fencing team” and installed wildlife fencing around the perimeter of the garden.
Working together, one student nailed the end of the roll of wire fencing to the first post, others pulled the fencing so it was flat against the outside of the deer fence, while still others used horseshoe fencing nails to anchor the wire to the next wooden fence post.
Students were careful to lay the fencing all the way down to the ground, to discourage animals from digging under it. The work crew took less than an hour to install fencing around the entire 40’ x 100’ garden space.
The Builder’s Club’s second project was to construct pollinator beds inside the garden. Since most vegetables are pollinated by insects, the beds are expected to increase the productivity of the garden.
A federal grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provided funds to purchase three 4’ x 8’ cedar raised bed kits as well as the soil to fill them.
Three members of the Builder’s Club and their faculty sponsor, with assistance from three members of Hopewell Methodist Church, assembled the pollinator beds at one end of the garden and filled them with bagged garden soil. Due to the ongoing drought, installing perennial plants was postponed until the weather turned cooler.
“Flat Rock’s repeated involvement in the garden has added to the sense of community the garden is designed to achieve,” a spokesperson said. “And the church and garden leaders look forward to more student-led activities in the future.”
Hopewell UMC is at 351 Jenkins Road, across from Sandy Creek High.
For more information about the church or the garden contact the church office, 770-306-7537.
Shanaya Hiranin, Lyniah Taylor, and Sydni Cleveland, members of the Flat Rock Builder’s Club, add soil to the new pollinator beds in Hopewell’s Community Garden. Photo/Special.
