This project has been a tremendous amount of community involvement from the youth to the elders. From donations, to assistance, visits from the residents, partnerships, youth presence, and pictures from the residents when the garden experience floodwaters especially on last week due to the city's water company power having an outrage at most of the pumping stations. We have had the youth building the raised beds, assist with building up the growing area by adding a lot of mulch, collecting cardboard, breaking down boxes, lining raised beds with the cardboard, adding mulch to the raised beds, digging up weeds, planting seeds, and watering seeds with rainwater. Our garden has inspired a non-profit organization to develop plans to create another garden down the street from us. In addition, the elders are really excited about learning and growing at the garden so we encourage them to bring their grandchildren to join them. Currently, it feels like springtime in New Orleans so we will be planning to build a caterpillar tunnel over the raised beds to protect it from the upcoming winter weather.

On September 12, 2023, we received worm castings, fertilizers, nutrients, and various seeds from a guy named James driving by. On Novemeber 4, 2023, we established a relationship with the guy down the street named Mike since he collects cardboard boxes from local businesses and disposes of them. Instead of disposing all of them, we (Isis, myself, Brother Vincent, and his son) collected several to line the inside of the raised beds and smother grass and weeds. On December 5, we emailed and vistied a couple coffee shops. On Decemeber 6, 2023, we acquired partnerships with 2 coffee shops to pickup used coffee grounds and collected some of the used coffee grounds from of the locations and delivered a collection bin to the other location on December 7, 2023. Then, we acquired 6 loads of soil and put it in all 16 raised beds on that same day. On December 8, 2023, we visited another coffee shop to secure another partnership in order to collect used coffee grounds and are now just waiting to here back from the manager. On December 9, 2023, we planted some mustard green seeds and watered it with rainwater. One day during Winter Break which is December 24, 2023 - January 7, 2024, we will have a seed starting/planting day.

Action plan:

Timeline: When will you be able to start your project? The project will start the second half of July 2023. How often will your team meet? The team will meet once or twice a month. Are there any key dates to share for the project? The tenative key date will be September 23, 2023 which is Fall Equinox or the 1st day of Fall.



Budget: You don't need to share exact prices, but please share how you're planning to spend the seed funding & what costs you're anticipating to get your project up and running: The budget will consists of top soil, compost, coffee grinds, mulch, galvanized steel raised beds or wood and concrete retaining wall, seeds and/or transplants, irrigation/watering system or rain barrels/IBC storage tote, water diverter kit, storage box or shed, copper wires, landscaping fabric, seed starting kit, small greenhouse(s), insect netting, tarp, watering cans, metal rake, tiller, garden hoe, trellis, string, plant stakes, and plant labels/signs.



Impact: How will your community benefit from this project? The community will benefit from this project by now having access to a healthier food source in a community labeled as a food desert due to it not having adequate access to fresh produce. Do you have any measurable goals for your project, such as the number of people that will participate? The number of persons expected to participate will be about 2 - 4 traditional schools and 2 homeschools which equates to about 30 to 60 students. Are you hoping to spread knowledge or increase interest in a specific subject? The objective of this school garden is to redirect anger and aggression as well to provide and promote healthy beverages and snacks to the children and all other members of the community because mocktails are great way to stay hydrated, are healthy, provide more nutrients to the body, doesn't negatively impact your sleep/rest, provide better moods, and keep weight off as well as food from a garden provides better nutrition and tastes better.



Location: If your project requires physical space, have you decided the location? Yes, the location has been decided. It will be at 4854 Wilson Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70126. Do you have all necessary permission and permits to carry out your project at the chosen location? Yes, we are leasing the property and have a lease agreement with the owner to construct immovable and movable property at that location.



• How has your kid leader been involved in the planning of the project so far? The kid leader choosing what type of raised beds we will be using for this school garden. She stated that we should use galvanized steel raused beds and decided that we will grow watermelon, radishes, mangos, luffa, rosemary, lemon grass, peppermint, blueberries, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, hibiscus, fennel, calendula, and sunflowers.



• How will kids be involved in the design and activation of this community project? The kid leader and all of the children on the team will provide how many raised beds will be built and we encourage them to find and choose additional plant options that will focus on ingredients to make healthy mocktails in order to promote consuming healthy beverages as well as growing healthy snacks to eat.

On August 18, 2023, the lawn care was done. On August 20, 2023, clear waterproofing sealer was purchased from the store and the galvanized steel raised beds were also ordered that day and arrived on August 23, 2023. On September 1, 2023, the lawn care was done. On September 2, 2023, the seed starter trays, solar irrigation system, self watering spikes, ground drill joint, solar security spigot, garden mesh netting, garden weed barrier with planting holes, and garden windscreens were ordered along with a load of wood chips. On September 7, 2023, the wood chips including tree logs were delivered to the location and some of it was spread out at the location.