Railyard Stewards

The Stewards have worked with over 20 schools and youth groups. Here are some quotes from Santa Fe Secondary and Santa Fe Prep students who helped us out in the  park this spring:

What did the students like most about the Railyard Stewards Program?

• “That I got to see the products of my work.”
• “Getting to be outside and being able to do hands-on work”
• “I liked working in the community garden due to the fact it is connected to the community.”

What activity or lesson stands out for you as being very successful?

• “Planting seeds.”
• “Work on the waffle garden was the most interesting.”
• “Building the various greenhouses.”

Over 60 community members joined us in the new Railyard Park community room to exchange seeds and seedlings, and enjoy free ice cream donated by Taos Cow! Coordinated by the Railyard Stewards and Earth Care, this was the first event of this kind in our new community room space.  For more information on the Railyard or the Community Room, email info@railyardpark.org or call 505-316-3596. For upcoming events, click here.

Photos: Earth Care, 2011.

April 4, 2011 – Santa Fe Secondary School Reports from the Railyard Park

Santa Fe Secondary students prepare the waffle garden for our April 12 grain planting workshop. The students volunteer weekly at the Railyard Park. Photo: Santa Fe Secondary, April 2011.

Today, students from Santa Fe Secondary School volunteered in the Railyard Park’s “Waffle Garden”. The school, which devotes a 90-minute class period once a week to community service, has been working in the park since September of 2010. Today, they worked to take down winter cold frames and hoop houses that they helped set up in the fall.

Plants from the cold frame, which were struggling from over-exposure, were transplanted into the hoop house, which thrived throughout the winter (even fava beans, which are traditionally a summer crop, survived the cold). The students also dug a waffle pattern into the garden, a water-catchment technology borrowed from the Native Americans.

Current Crops in the Waffle Garden

• Carrots (white, purple, and orange)
• Beets
• Cilantro
• Chard
• Radishes
• Onions
• Fava Beans

Students worked in a winter garden this year, and helped take it down to make room for spring crops. Photo: Santa Fe Secondary, 2011.

On a recent search of Railyard images I came across this travel blog with amazing photos of Santa Fe and the Railyard!  Link to the site by clicking here – it is a feast for the eyes.