KOLOA — Koloa School is one of the few schools that does not have a school garden, Suzanne Kashiwaeda said Friday. Volunteers from the Koloa School PTSA attempted to change that on a recent Furlough Friday, with the final touches
KOLOA — Koloa School is one of the few schools that does not have a school garden, Suzanne Kashiwaeda said Friday.
Volunteers from the Koloa School PTSA attempted to change that on a recent Furlough Friday, with the final touches being made to the planned school garden.
“We had a bunch of people coming and going according to their schedules,” Kashiwaeda said. “Even Debbie Lindsey, the school principal, was here with a bunch of Cub Scouts.”
Friday’s effort involved the spreading out of shredded green waste over a layer of flattened cardboard boxes which was provided by Costco who saved the cardboard for the school. Kashiwaeda is a leader of the school’s recycling program.
Susanne Hancock said the garden is eventually going to be earth-friendly and organic.
“Tom Legacy gave the school a container of worms and we’ve been raising them to where we have three containers,” Hancock said. “We’ll be using these worms in the garden. We’ll also keep some in the worm farms and modify the farms so we can harvest the worm tea to fertilize the plants.”
Hancock said the worms like to hang out under the cardboard which was spread out in an area that formerly contained a pile of dirt.
“The worm workers are really cool,” said Katie Hancock, a student helper watering down the spread out green mulch. “They eat food and poop out dirt.”
That pile of dirt was removed and a layer of rock dust and sand added before the cardboard was laid down. The shredded green waste goes over the cardboard, and no sooner did Legacy speak about angels when a tractor appeared, making short work of moving the pile of green waste.
“The coolest thing about this garden is how we recycle the paper,” Hancock said, pointing out that once the students’ schoolwork is done, the paper is used for notes and other items. When filled on both sides, the paper is shredded and used in the worm farms and as mulch where it will decompose along with the cardboard.
Susan Pittman, president of the Rotary Club of Po‘ipu Beach, gave us $1,000 to start this garden, Kashiwaeda said, noting that Pittman was one of the volunteers during the Furlough Friday project.
Hancock is hopeful the garden will be ready by April, but will wait until the start of the next school year before getting down to planting and other studies.
“This garden is really a community thing,” Hancock said. “We’re looking at it as an opportunity for an outdoor classroom where students can learn about a variety of subjects.”
Kashiwaeda said some of the project’s community partners include the Kukui‘ula Development Co. which partnered with the school for bulldozing services, recycled PVC pipes and other materials for the garden, Kevin Town Tree Trimming Service for the green mulch, and Costco for saving the cardboard.
