Six Sisters Garden

OVERVIEW
The "Six Sisters Garden" is a brand new urban garden and community growing space located in a temperate climate on a former school playground, serving six deserving resident families.


Pictured above: Two large blackboards flank three colorful benches around the rustic "Chalk and Talk Table" with globe pot underneath.  Beside it are two smaller raised beds hosting a male and female hardy kiwi plant which will climb along and cover the fence to provide privacy.  These kiwis are shade tolerant, hence their location under the shade of the (unknown type) trees, rather than in the sunnier raised bed garden area.

VISION

“The newly designed gardens, courtyard, and patio areas for these ‘six sisters’ (and future residents) provide:
1) An inviting place of community and fellowship, as well as
2) A variety of nooks and crannies for productivity, playfulness, and privacy.  
The gardens bring extra produce in their season, and also a little art and brightness to everyone’s day.”

ELEMENTS

Community and art elements:
-Chalk and talk tables (3)
-Colorful benches (6)
-Chalk wall landscape canvas
-Dual instructional blackboards
-Foldable, stackable raised beds (10)
-Arching trellises
-Metal compost bin
-Garden gnome ring toss and bean bags
-Tree sprites
-Art frames, colorful and rustic
-Hanging pyrography pucks, larger memorial wood tokens
-Cardboard info-squares (semi-disposable)
-Artful murals (interior spaces)

Plant elements:



Original plantings in this garden included:
-Hardy Kiwi vines (4)
-Gooseberries (2)
-Black and red currants (6)
-Sunflowers, beans, buckwheat, and other annuals from paper-pots
-Sea Buckthorns (2)

WORK DAYS
Outdoor work days or group activities I led are listed below.  In addition, a separate designer led the painting of gorgeous interior murals, with beautiful flower paintings representing the countries of the "Six Sisters" residents.

1. Apple cider-making fundraiser day

2. Client intake meetings, "before" photographs, and measurement of spaces day

3. Potting table install, trash clean-up, landscape wall cleaning day

4. Landscape wall scrubbing, blackboard painting, and bench delivery day

Pictured above: We transformed this concrete retaining wall into a blank canvas for kids' chalk doodles.  But by only scrubbing and painting certain portions, neat shapes and forms are visible.  In this case, a summer mountain scene is just waiting to come alive (in my imagination at least!).

5. Bench sanding and painting (3 of 6) day

6. Neighborhood workday party:
-Bench assembly (3 of 6)
-gnomes painting
-globe pot painting
-raised bed operational checks and painting
-colorful art frame creation
-workshop test-run

7. Transportation of materials evening: Chalk-and-talk-table, benches, raised beds


8. Garden install workday (day 1):
-Ground and tile preparation
-Raised bed assembly
-Compost arrival
-Blackboard install
-Bench assembly (6 of 6)

9. Garden install workday (day 2):
-Ground and tile preparation continued
-Raised bed liner install
-Shovel and wheelbarrow day, loading earth/compost into raised beds
-Trellis install
-Plant install (10)
-Bench painting (6 of 6)


Pictured above: Foldable stackable raised bed shipment arrival, assembly, and preparation for planting over workdays 6 8 and 9.  Heavy concrete tiles and rubber flooring was removed underneath the beds to allow good earth contact for roots, moisture, and soil life.

10. Dedication workday:
-Rustic art-frame install
-Token decoration
-Compost top-off
-Dedication ceremony and fun activities volunteering preparations...

11. Youth social workday - group 1:
-Family (pallet) raised bed construction, part 1
-Mini beds constructed for kids
-Grounds cleanup

12. Youth social workday - group 2:
-Family (pallet) raised bed construction, part 2
-Pallet beds filling and decoration
-Grounds cleanup
-Blackboards repair, mounting and decoration
-2x Blackberry install

Events and Activities
Dedication event:
-Paper pot making
-Seed sharing origami packets
-Pyrography pucks
-Chalk and talk table
-Bean bag toss / ring toss
-Face painting
-Sustainable reading nook
-VIP tour and dedication ceremony, ceremonial tree planting
-Appreciation meal & flower ceremony


Pictured above: The Six Sisters Garden after its dedication event.  Along the ground are bean bags and "cardboard cornhole" beside a rectangular chalk-and-talk table.  Gnome ring toss and toys are strewn about in the foreground.  Raised beds at varying heights were filled with purchased earth and compost, with 8 of the beds holding new perennial fruits, plus two smaller beds dedicated to annuals at a kid-friendly height to the south.  Tiles underneath all of these beds were removed to allow appropriate drainage and root penetration.  Along the fence, colorful art frames add brightness to a gray and dreary climate, showcasing smaller wooden art and live plants.  Later, the hanging blackboards fell during a windstorm (and were relocated/remounted), and 8 more raised beds were added after workdays 11 and 12, pictured below.