SabinGardens.org

Welcome back to another wonderfull year in the garden! Join us on Saturday and Sunday, October 10 & 11 from 9am until noon for a work party to help get the garden ready for fall classes.  Come and meet other neighbors, parents and our new Garden Educator, Isabel LaCourse.

What a difference a year makes.  So many people have contributed their time, talent and helping hands to sustain the Native Garden and transform what was a level patch of grass and weeds into the Edible Garden.  (To see what the Edible Garden looked like when it was established a little more than a year ago, click here.)  But we need to keep digging, weeding, watering and caring for the gardens so that they can continue to be a wonderful resource for the children at Sabin School, ACCESS Academy and in the Sabin neighborhood.

Hope to see you there.

Comments Off

What did we do during our spring break?  We built a fence!  More than a fence, actually, a new border consisting of a split-rail fence, rocks and logs that will help protect the Native Garden.  A grant from the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District paid for the materials, then parents and neighbors got together on  Saturday, March 21 and other times throughout the week to do the installation.  The Edible Garden got a fence, too, thanks to funds from the Sabin PTA.  Special thanks go to Gilbert Shibley for bringing in nearly two tons of logs and boulders.  Old Town Pizza and Starbucks on Fremont donated food and refreshments for the work party.  Kids painted pots and filled them with donated strawberry starts for sale at the upcoming PTA Auction.  In the coming weeks the Native Garden fence will get the final four segments installed.  In the meantime, have a look at the photos on our Gallery page and don’t hesitate to ask questions at webmaster@sabingardens.org.

Comments Off

The Native Garden now has permanent paths, thanks to purchase of 75 stepping stone pavers by the Sabin PTA.  A big “Thank you!” goes to Ken Rumbaugh and the ACCESS Academy classes of Ms. Clarke and Ms. Egan for braving the wet weather and installing over 1200 lbs of pavers to make these new paths.  The next step for ensuring the success of the Native Garden will be to create fencing that directs foot traffic to the stepping-stone paths.

(The stepping stone shown in the photo is one of several dozen decorated by Sabin students several years ago.  These were mixed in with the new pavers.)

Comments Off

It has been determined in the past few PTA meetings that the formation of a Sabin Garden Committee is needed. The Garden Committee will discuss and make decisions regarding allocation of resources, funding for projects and materials, garden maintenance, curriculum development surrounding the garden, long term goals and vision for Sabin Gardens, the distribution of food grown in Sabin Edible Gardens, and other issues. The Garden Committee will report back to the PTA as needed.

If you’re interested in being a part of the Garden Committee, contact Madelyn Mickelberry: madelyn@sabingardens.org

Our first meeting will be coming up soon!

Comments Off

Parents, students and neighbors all helped to get the Sabin grounds and gardens ready for the school year at the PTA/SOLV Spuce-Up Day on August 23rd.  Significant for the Native Garden are new benches that circle some of the mature trees nearby.  At left, two ACCESS Academy students pull some prize oak tree starts from the Native Garden.

.

Comments Off

Meley and Kionna take time to smell the flowers.

Now you, too, can take time to smell the flowers.  Visit our Gallery page, where you’ll find some lovely shots taken by Sabin Sun camp counselors during the first week in garden class.

Comments Off

Sabin Gardens needs to have cedar chips spread around the pathways and on the outside of the berm. This will suppress weeds, maintain moisture for raised beds, and keep the garden with a beautiful and maintained appearance. More chips are being ordered this week. Now all we need are volunteers to spend a few hours spreading these chips! Extra wheelbarrows will be helpful.

Interested volunteers can send me an email with availability to madelyn@pdx.edu. The PTA spruce-up day on August 23rd could be a good time to work on this. Let me know if you can help on the 23rd. Another time can be coordinated if needed, also.

Comments Off

Sabin PTA/SOLV Spruce-Up Day: August 23rd 9am-noon (& beyond) — Come help clean-up and freshen up Sabin School, inside and out. The Sabin PTA & SOLV team up to get the school grounds in tip-top shape in time for our returning students in September. E-mail the Sabin PTA at sabinpta@comcast.net for more details or to sign-up to pitch in. We are in need of volunteers with construction skills as we will be installing four new benches and two new garbage containers on the Spruce-Up Day.

.

Comments Off

On May 3, 2008 dozens of parents, teachers, staff and neighbors had a great time creating the Sabin Edible Garden in the North playground of the school yard.  They laid the groundwork for what promises to be a valuable educational opportunity for students at Sabin, summer SUN School and ACCESS Academy.  What started as a flat expanse of grass became by the end of the day a star-shaped array of raised planting beds and barrels.   Fresh lettuce starts went in, as well as fruit trees and berry bushes.

At the same time, in the South playground area, the Sabin Community Native Garden received a fresh infusion of approximately 300 native plants and had pathways redifined with fresh bark chips.

Comments Off