Things are really coming together!  We hope you can join us for some portion of the Sunnyvale Elementary School Community Garden Work Day this Saturday, May 18 from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

Below is a link to the sign up sheet, which is hosted in a Google Doc:   Volunteer Sign-Up: https://docs.google.com/a/sunnyvaleisd.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsSQfE60vlZIdFY4R1g3a3dLbi0xelZNZHBKdGpBRUE#gid=0

Have questions? Talk to someone on “Team Ann” 🙂

• Mary Ann Moreland, chair
• Deborah Ann Stafford
• Sallyann Nevins
• Georgeann Moss
• “Nate Ann” Chrastina

Here’s what’s been going on behind the scenes to get ready for the Work Day:

• We’ve had multiple, highly productive planning meetings with “Nate Ann” Chrastina, the SES special education teacher and high school football coach who conceived and has spearheaded this project.
• Deborah and Marilyn Fitzner picked up free compost from Mesquite. Deborah will drive it up to the back of the school on Saturday, so that it can be worked into the beds.
• Deborah has already dug out one bed and has marked out a couple of more beds.
• Deborah created a compost bin out of wooden palettes;  we’ll mix hay  with grass clippings  to create the compost. Bert Whitehead, Sunnyvale’s resident composting author and expert, said this combination will make excellent compost. The hay will be donated by Landers Mercantile; we still need donations of green grass clippings. Do you have any to donate? (We were going to get the kids to compost their leftover lunch food, but they got so excited about composting that they wouldn’t eat their food! That’s why we went to Plan B 🙂
• Deborah has donated cucumbers, purple basil and tomatoes to plant.
•   We are looking for families to “adopt a plot” over the summer so that the garden will be in good shape for the kids when school starts up again this fall. In exchange, the family will get all of the produce from the garden plot they adopt and/or they can donate all or a portion of it to a food bank or church.
• There is a water spigot in general vicinity of the garden at the back of the school (Yeeaaaaahhh!) The school is using SGC’s monetary donation to purchase pavers, hoses, tools, etc.
• We’ll be building a ready-to-assemble shed, wooden trellis and pave stone beds on Saturday. Many thanks to the Kilgores for donating the trellis materials and to Michelle Roquemore for donating the sign.

This is going to be fun!!!   And after all of your hard work, you’ll be hungry. So Mayor Phaup is providing pizza for lunch. 🙂

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Submitted by:  Martha Billman – Communications Committee