The advent of spring has brought a really fun opportunity for Westfield area Girl Scouts. Thanks to a grant from the Westfield United Fund, a group of enthusiastic Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors—with help from with some local gardening enthusiasts—have the chance to hone their green thumbs by planting and maintaining a garden behind the Central Service Center in Westfield.
The Westfield Garden Project kicked off in April, when the girls took a tour of the backyard and started to put together their plans for the planting season along with digging out an in-ground garden that will be home to several types of flowers.
The group met again last weekend for the big planting! Everyone got busy pulling and digging out a year’s worth of overgrown weeds, tilling the soil, and adding new, nutrient rich dirt to all planting areas. Flower seeds were planted in the in-ground garden while the veggies went into several of the raised boxes that were built behind the CSC several years ago. Girls used the square foot method of raised bed gardening to mark off sections and to plant all sorts of vegetables including beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers.
The fun continues all summer with programs for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors (look for information on those coming soon!) and the continued care of the garden by the older girls. There is a community service aspect of this project as well as any produce grown in the garden will be donated to the Westfield Food Pantry.
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