Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22nd. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and events are now coordinated in more than 193 countries globally by the Earth Day Network.
In Sutter County, the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program celebrated Earth Day by participating in the Barry Elementary School Garden Build Day. This successful event was made possible through the collaborative efforts of various community partners including; the Sutter-Yuba 4-H Youth Development Program, UC Master Gardeners, UC CalFresh, The Worm Farm, Lowe's, teachers, students, and their families. Barry Elementary School's Principal, Vice Principal, and School Counselor also attended and participated in the event.
During Garden Build Day, participants built raised garden beds which included the installation of gopher wire to the bottom of each bed prevent pest damage and the installation of weed cloth to the bottom of each bed to minimize weed growth. The Worm Farm from Durham, CA delivered 13 cubic yards of soil and participants worked together to fill the depth of each raised garden bed with the soil. Participants also had the opportunity to participate in a Drip Irrigation 101 Workshop lead by the Butte Cluster's Nutrition, Family, and Consumer Sciences Advisor, Chelsey Slattery. During this workshop, participants learned the basics of installing drip irrigation in school gardens. Drip irrigation is defined as any watering system that delivers a slow moving supply of water at a gradual rate directly to the soil and consists of a network of pipes, tubing valves, and emitters.
During Garden Build Day, four separate garden beds were built which included, two 4x8 raised garden beds, one 4'x8' high riser ADA compliant raised garden bed, and one U-shaped raised garden bed. The U-Shaped garden bed will offer greater accessibility and efficient use of growing space. U-shaped garden beds are perfect for school learning gardens because they create a wrap-around garden design with a center pathway which is ideal for multiple students and/or wheelchair access. U-shaped garden beds are also cost-effective, and provide more growing space with less material costs.
Drip irrigation saves water by delivering water right to the root zone of plants and is usually allowed outside watering windows in areas with watering restrictions. The drip irrigation system that was installed in the Barry School Garden will help to eliminate overspray, wind drift and evaporation. Some additional benefits of the drip irrigation system include; water conservation, consistently in water frequency and duration, and reduced weed growth from not watering areas without plant material.
