Planting for the Future
This fall Washington Island students had a field day roaming the woods between Gathering Ground and Island School. Since then, they have been working in groups to design a path that connects the school to “The Grounds.” And we couldn’t be more excited! The physical connection of the two properties will create easy access for … Continue reading Forest Path Connecting School to Gathering Ground
Planting trees and tending vines has absorbed the majority of our efforts so far, but education is at the heart of our organization. GG’s internship is entering its fourth year in 2021, and we are excited about how the program is growing. Just as our roots and branches of our trees are extending their reach until maturity, so too are our educational programs.
Before becoming an intern with my sister Izzy at Gathering Ground, I was an Island regular. Every summer my family would drive up from our Illinois suburb to Washington Island, anticipating the euphoric moment when we would be driving down the curving road, alongside the lake to Gibson’s West Harbor Resort.
Beginning in July, our community compost program will be up and running. Our goal is to recycle the kitchen and yard waste from Island households and businesses, up to the holding capacity of our structure, diverting the waste from being dumped and carted off-island. All while producing black soil to enrich our gardens and orchards.
On a quiet April day, Casey Dahl of Folk Tree Farm on Washington Island shared his pruning knowledge with a couple of neighbors in their old apple orchard. The trees had not been pruned in years and they wanted to learn more about how to care for them. Gathering Ground also attended this pruning workshop … Continue reading How to Prune Old Apple Trees
In the next 3-5 years, we aspire to expand our current summer internship program into RuralYear, a 9-month program on the Island that educates young adults in sustainable agriculture through classroom education and apprenticeships at Gathering Ground as well as local farms and farm-to-table kitchens. We imagine opportunities for participants to acquire hands-on experience in … Continue reading Looking to Grow: RuralYear
Chestnuts are called the Bread Tree as the nuts are similar to grain nutritionally. They can be eaten fresh or milled into a flour. Chestnuts were once a staple throughout much of the eastern United states, both for humans and wildlife, and today, they are a staple in parts of Europe and Asia. Chestnut trees can … Continue reading Why are we planting chestnuts?
This article first appeared in the Washington Island Observer. By Sheridan Ash, Gathering Ground intern. 2019 marks the second year that Gathering Ground is tending the vineyard on the Island. Because the organization’s mission is to educate youth and adults in sustainable agriculture and to strengthen the health of the environment and community, Gathering Ground … Continue reading Gathering Ground looking at solutions to destructive beetles
First published in the Observer By Russell Rolffs, Gathering Ground executive director Recently I saw a sign at the entrance of a garden that read: “If nothing is eating your plants, your garden is not part of the ecosystem.” The message to gardeners, I think, is to be proud when your plants are preyed upon … Continue reading Planning Ahead for the Rose Chafer
I’m Lucille Theodora Little, sophomore UW-Milwaukee student in Environmental Science and Geography. I am an avid fan of nature, data science, and cheese. There are many things I’m looking to learn in the future--language, cheesemaking, beekeeping, gardening, programming, painting, mapmaking, biology, ecology, cultural geography, and more. Certainly, this is quite a few things, and … Continue reading Meet our Intern Lucy!
