Girl Scout service project improves Eastmorland Community Garden

By Maggie Hinterthuer, Girl Scout Troop 8267

The Girl Scouts Silver Award is the second-highest award a Scout can achieve — second only to the Gold Award. Recently, Girl Scout Troop 8267 completed a Silver Award project improving features of the Eastmorland Community Garden.

The garden, located at the intersection of Hargrove and Walter, previously had no signage indicating what garden it is. The garden also had multiple other issues with signage and organization, which was the basis for Troop 8267’s project.

The community garden is a volunteer-led organization. Plot prices are kept low to remain accessible and inclusive, so the garden organizers did not have enough funds to make these improvements themselves. The main upgrades Troop 8267 made were to make a sign displaying the name of the garden, repair a garden hose structure that had been rotting, marking the perennial and herb gardens and labeling the compost and wood chip piles with yard signs.

The two piles had previously been unmarked, so the city had no indication of where to put deliveries. Furthermore, there was no specification that these materials were for gardeners only. Some neighbors believed that the compost or woodchips could be taken to put in their own yards and gardens.

Troop 8267 purchased materials and set off to design, paint and install the signs. The Troop had a lot of fun designing their projects.

“I enjoyed the creating aspect and that I see it every day when I walk home,” remarked Ione, who made the name sign for the garden.

The construction of the signs consisted of sawing and sanding, priming and painting, and the most exciting part, installing them. The Scouts worked long hours in the hot sun digging holes and using drills to fasten the signs to metal supports. The Scouts learned more than handy skills during this project. They learned and improved upon skills such as planning, problem-solving and budgeting throughout their project.

“I learned how to manage my time a lot better during this project,” Holly said. “I feel accomplished!”

Holly designed the yard signs that label the wood chip and compost piles.

Troop 8267’s garden renovations will hold through sun and storm and should last for years to come. This project, which enhanced the garden and the Eastmorland neighborhood, is only a small step to progressing Madison as a whole.

For more information about the Eastmorland Community Garden, visit danegardens.net.