Garden Gallery
Preschlack
Lake Forest resident Paula Preschlack—principal of the Forest Bluff Montessori School and daughter of the school’s founder—has learning by doing in her blood. She knows that one of the best ways to convince children of the value of staying healthy and eating well is to engage them in growing their own food. So when Paula and her family moved, in 2006, onto a lovely parcel of land featuring a fertile, well-tilled seventy-year-old vegetable plot, they threw themselves into vegetable production—and reaped an abundant harvest. The next year, however, the garden went bust: It was overrun by weeds, and yielded little to eat. In spring 2008, Paula called The Organic Gardener to the rescue.
First, TOG installed a fresh cedar fence, with arbor, in place of the old one; tall enough to keep deer out, the new fence is also lined with half-inch wire mesh, for rabbit-proofing. Next, we removed swatches of sod, to expand the available growing space. Then we created a network of paths out of repurposed paving stones (in order to ensure easy access to every bed), and replenished the soil’s fertility with copious amounts of compost. Finally, we installed a custom-built three-bin cedar composter in the spacious gathering area at one end of the garden. Throughout the summer of 2008, we came by every two weeks for teaching/maintenance visits. Since the Preschlacks were going to be on vacation for the month of July, we timed plantings such that food would be ready to harvest before they left and after they returned.
Throughout the process of installing and tending the Preschlacks’ garden, the whole family participated. The kids watched the old fence come down and the new one go up. Stanley helped aerate the existing soil with a broadfork before the compost was added; many afternoons saw him out in the field with the TOG team, pushing paving stones in a wheelbarrow or helping dig a trench with a child-sized shovel. Lillard, his little sister, helped shape and smooth compost into rows. Both children participated in every step of the growing process, from planting through harvest. They—and their parents—have been rewarded with bumper crops of cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, butternut squash, and a host of other vegetables. Next year, TOG will help the students of the Forest Bluff Montessori School build a compost bin and tend their existing vegetable garden, teaching as we go.
