Students from Yreka's Gold Street Elementary School begin working on their class garden box by removing weeds so they could start fresh. (photo: USFWS)

The same garden box after weeding and planting, ready to invite songbirds. (photo: USFWS)

By Noah Elllis, Yreka FWO

On April 23 and 24, 2009, Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office employees Jennifer Jones and Noah Ellis assisted students at Gold Street Elementary in Yreka, Calif., with their schoolyard gardens as part of the Connecting People With Nature (CPWN) initiative. The gardens had not been used actively over the last couple of years, so the CPWN crew worked with students and teachers to rejuvenate the school’s interest in maintaining the garden. 

Each of the classes were given a half hour to remove all the weeds from their planter box, add soil amendment, and choose which plants they wanted to grow.  The project is a songbird garden, so plants were chosen to attract birds. The Yreka FWO is planning another visit to the garden to help plant the garden boxes that were not completed. 

Scott Valley Feed of Yreka matched the Yreka Fish and Wildlife Office in a one-to-one donation of soil amendment and plants.  The staff at Scott Valley Feed also researched which plants would help attract songbirds to the garden. 

Overall, the school made a big step towards having a working garden that will help the students learn about plant cycles, plant and animal interactions, and how to maintain a garden of their own.