By Mariah Fleming, Bluffton Girl Scout Troop 8 Cadette

November 9, 2009 Girl Scout Troop 8 decided to make a garden in Woodhaven. That day they went to look at the condition of the garden and make measurements to see how much space they had to work with.

Because it was winter, the girls of Troop 8 started planning how the garden should look, and what plants they would need and want.

In March 2010 they broke ground. They moved the soil around to see how it was and what they would need to make it so they could plant. The girls ended up with 2 gardens.

One they called the "shade" garden for plants that didn't need direct sunlight. The other was split into 4 different beds. These 4 beds made up the "sun" garden. This garden was for veggies, while the shade garden was for flowers.

The girls built the sun garden's beds themselves out of wide boards. Because the shade garden's soil had no nutrients and the sun garden had no soil, Wendy Chappell-Dick, Troop 8's leader went with another Girl Scout to pick up fresh soil and manure.

Wendy, with the Girl Scout's help, put the fresh soil in the sun gardens with manure. The Girl Scouts then asked for plants to be donated to the garden. Stratton's Greenhouse and Cindy Basinger's home business "Backyard Perennials" donated flowers and veggies to the garden.

The girls then went to plant all they had received. Unfortunately, bunnies and deer came out one night and ate the plants! The girls were able to save some plants.

They built fences to keep the animals out, and filled glass jars with water to confuse the bunnies. They put human hair and mothballs in the corners of some of the garden plots to make the animals think there were humans around. The girls planted special flowers to repel bugs and animals.

Now all they had to deal with were weeds. When the plants were well again the girls mulched the gardens over with straw to help keep the weeds down.

By now it's summer and the girls have harvested the flowers and given them to St. Rita's hospital and the Cheryl Allen Center.

When the veggies are ready they will donate them to Lima's "Garden Share." If you have any questions on the Girl Scout Garden please email Wendy Chappell-Dick at [email protected].

For a cookbook of healthy after school snacks written by Troop 8, see www.girlscoutcookbook.webs.com