Compost Harvest, Saturday, 11/17
Aloha Compost Club Members,
Note: New location this month – Ka’elepulu Elementary!
The NOVEMBER COMPOST HARVEST will be held this Saturday, November 17, starting promptly at 10:30 am at Ka’elepulu Elementary School in Enchanted Lake. We love this adorable little school – home of the Ladybugs – located on 530 Keolu Drive. It is the campus on the outside of the Keolu loop, with the huge front schoolyard. Can’t miss it.
Ka’elepulu has been composting since August of 2016 and they are unique in that their composting program was well developed long before they initiated their school garden, as we recommend. They had been composting for over a year and had a few cubic yards harvested and ready to go. They had even sold some so that they had plenty of their own money in a Garden Fund to purchase seeds, tools, etc.
The windward Master Gardeners were called on to consult and parent volunteers recruited to assist building raised beds and clearing the area. Thoroughly prepared, each class planted a bed or two on their very first attempt last year, and they were extraordinarily successful – soon brimming with produce and confidence! This year they added melon and pumpkin patches as well as a variety of trees, all maintained with a high degree of daily participation from all teachers and students.
As Ka’ohao STEM teacher Mr. Sawyer says, “Gardening SURE IS FUN when you have good soil!”
That’s where we come in! Although all 4th, 5th, and 6th graders get to harvest compost during the school year, they do have limits on their time, so we’re going to help them catch up this Saturday. We’ll harvest one, maybe two, small piles.
As always, we will be pau by 11:30.
Park in the parking lot and climb up to the garden/composting area. You will see it to the right of the school buildings. Those of you purchasing compost can drive your cars up to the garden afterwards to load up.
Suggested attire: gardening clothes. Closed-toe shoes are a must, and do bring gloves if you have them. We have plenty of small-sized gloves.
As a Compost Club member, you can redeem your share(s) at this time – two buckets per share – in exchange for your hour of harvesting. Or you can hold on to your shares and just volunteer to earn a point. Three points gets you a free bucket of compost at any subsequent harvest.
Whether you help to harvest this Saturday or not, as a Compost Club member you can purchase compost @ $10 per bucket at any harvest throughout the year. Bring your own 5-gallon bucket or other container. We can usually provide buckets if you don’t have.
PLEASE RSVP IF YOU PLAN TO JOIN US THIS SATURDAY.
Reply to <mindy@waikikiworm.net>
Mahalo!
