WSLA Garden Corps

Today, the WASHINGTON STREET LIBERATION ARMY GARDEN CORPS was treated to a SEED-STARTING WORKSHOP conducted by master gardener, Melissa Link, at the WSLA COMMUNITY GARDEN. But let me back up a bit for the non-locals - the WASHINGTON STREET LIBERATION ARMY is a loose collective of Athenians who strive to help those in our community in need and to get people interested in community activism and involvement - and to generally have fun while doing so. The WSLA Garden Corps is the arm of the WSLA that takes care of the WSLA Community Garden, which is in Kimberly OHH, BOY's backyard. Now, I know you are probably thinking, "a community garden in someone's private backyard?"...well, yes. You see, while the community-at-large doesn't have direct access to the garden, the food grown in the garden is meant to benefit those in our community who are in need. The idea is that the food we grow can be donated to local charities, food banks, or organizations like FOOD NOT BOMBS. Or, produce can be sold at the local farmer's market and the proceeds can go towards doing good in the community (for more info info on the WSLA, go HERE or HERE)







Melissa showed us how to prepare REGULAR PLANTING SOIL by mixing in BLOOD MEAL and GREEN SAND and then binding it all together with a little bit of WATER. After the soil was mixed, we packed our seed containers which ranged anywhere from store-bought seedling pots to recycled egg cartons, tin cans, and even empty egg shells.

The idea was to have everyone "FOSTER PARENT" seeds culled from the WSLA seed collection and grow them at home, until they grew into healthy little seedlings. After 4 or 5 weeks, the seedlings would be transplanted into the garden beds at the community garden. Wish us luck! Missy and I planted different varieties of tomato, pepper, eggplant, and herbs...we also brought our own loofah and gourd seeds and planted those too...









We packed our finished seed beds into our big plastic bin and headed home...and then worked in our own garden for the rest of the afternoon...