Page 31 - Priorities #55 2013-March/April

31
The Green Page
A letter from the Priory Sustainability Coordinator, Hovey Clark
Greetings, People of Earth.
Spring is upon us once again, and right now the race is on to finish the Priory’s vegetable garden expansion project in time to plant spring and summer crops. The Franklin Garden will be a keystone feature in the Priory’s sustainability program, as it will offer educational opportunities at the same time as it produces some organic foods for the school cafeteria. What’s New:
• A splendid new deer-proof fence has been constructed, enclosing 8400 sf of space on the hill across from the art building and near the site of the future science building. Fence, designer, alum parent Bob Waterman, calls the enclosure ‘a living fence’, since the fruit trees will help the fence to disappear into the landscape.
• Currently, the perimeter box is being filled with soils that we cultivated and cultured on campus using annual rye and aged manure from local horse farms. Our irrigation system will be installed shortly, along with 30 raised redwood beds – whose materials we could not have purchased without the support of Ted Schlosser ’78 from Broadmoor Lumber, and a grant from the Woodside Atherton Garden Society.
• Very generous financial support has been provided by Ingrid Lai, mother of Anthony Shu, ’12. Ingrid’s incredible generosity has helped to ensure that the garden area will be as beautiful as the natural area that surrounds it. Additionally, the Teymourian family (Julia, ’15) has offered some generous lower lumbar support, with their gift of a small tractor, from the school’s on-line faculty wishlist. Boundless gratitude to both of these donors! Priory Students are so fortunate to benefit from your kindness and generosity.
The Priory Garden and Sustainability programs offer many opportunities to connect and reconnect with the school. If you are interested in getting involved, please consider donating your time or resources to this exciting and growing program and contact me with any questions you have.
Thank you so much for your time and interest. Sincerely,
Hovey Clark Sustainability Coordinator hclark@prioryca.org