Mustang Meadows

Prairie grasses, student-crafted stepping stones, rotting pumpkins, and Native American teepees are just a few of the exciting things you will see in our Mustang Meadows Schoolyard Garden.  Nestled snugly on the west side of Mount Vernon Elementary School, our 7,800 square foot garden sports a western theme with wooden barrels, mustang horses, colorful wagon wheels, and the ever-dancing Kokopelli.  Our garden is great place for our students to learn about the life cycle of plants, animals, and soil…yes, soil!  It also includes two raised-bed vegetable gardens that are handicapped accessible, a campfire pit that blazes with red and yellow flowers, an underground gravel riverbed, and a compost viewing window.  Coming soon?  A colorful butterfly garden that has plants from A to Z!  There is plenty more to see, so we invite you to come and explore.  After all, where else can you go to gaze into the goopy guts of a rotting pumpkin

As a school teacher, the end of a school year for me is bittersweet.  Well, more “sweet” than, “bitter,” to be honest, but there is always one part of me that wishes the year could go on.  I know it sounds crazy, but I often feel at the end of the year like I am finally getting things together, that my plans are finally working, that I am finally getting to know my students, but then they’re gone for the summer and my momentum fades away into the sweet summer breeze.  For our Mustang Meadows’ crack team of dirt-digging diehards, the end of this school year is also bittersweet.  It has been a banner year for our garden, and the hard work we have put into it is turning a former patch of grass and weeds into a showcase.  Alas, summer looms with its siren call of vacations, pools, and everything “not school". Our work is not done, however, as we have one last workday planned for Sunday, June 8^th from 2 to 5 pm to get the garden ready to face the brutal Tidewater summer. 
And speaking of, we need your help to keep the plants alive throughout the summer.  We are asking folks to participate in our Summertime Watering Program.  It involves signing up to oversee a day or two of watering of the various plants. 
Now, on to tooting our horn!!  This past school year, our small crew worked tirelessly, and our efforts were rewarded when the garden was featured in the February edition of Virginia Wildlife!  We constructed a viewing window for our compost bin pumpkin decomposition project, decorated and installed recycling and trash barrels, erected four trellis teepees each with a different geometric base, put in six new half-barrel planters, and built a dual-level potting bench.  In the ABC garden, we created twenty-six large letters out of various donated rocks, bricks, and other materials, and we began planting flowers that begin with each corresponding letter.  Thanks to a generous donation from Riverside Brick in Yorktown, we installed three wheel-chair accessible brick landings in our Chuck Wagon Vegetable garden.  We even began a partnership with the William & Mary Geology Department to provide us with a few rock samples to place throughout the garden.   And, our wonderful volunteers put in hours of hauling, weeding, digging, watering, weeding, raking, and weeding! 
Mustang Meadows is a true community effort, and every time we see a group of students in the garden exploring, or a family enjoying a picnic at the tables, we know that what we have done is worth every bead of sweat.  We look forward to seeing you out in our schoolyard garden working, playing, or just enjoying the wonderful view!  Have a fun and safe summer!

June work date:
Sunday, June 8th - 2 to 5

The Mustang Meadows Summer Watering Program needs families to volunteer to water the garden for one week during the summer (two days during a week’s time). Please contact Mic Platt at 867-9718 to sign up, or for more information.