Rain Garden Restoration at Morales Farm

What do you get when you combine 14 energetic, focused third-graders, a rain garden awaiting love and care, and seven heavy-duty weed wrenches? The beginning of something truly beautiful!

Over 10 years ago, the Kitsap Conservation District created a rain garden at Morales Farm to address water running down the steep Lovgreen hillside. Over the years, it become overgrown with scotch broom and blackberry vines and was in need of restoration and repair.

A partnership between Friends of the Farms, Island School, and Kitsap Conservation District was formed in an effort to bring this important garden back to its original purpose

Island School third-grade teacher Christine Newkirk and her students enthusiastically agreed to learn about rain gardens, do restoration and provide continued maintenance throughout their next three years at Island School. Maddie Feiste, from the Kitsap Conservation District joined the team and on a sunny, cold Friday morning in early February 2024, all met for their first work party on site.

Weed wrenches on loan from Bainbridge Island Parks Department were the perfect tool for the arduous task of ripping scotch broom out by its roots and the students made quick work of the first round of invasive plant removal. They worked with abandon as they ripped and pulled, hauled and piled, wrenched and tore huge weeds, allowing more light and life to come to this space than it’s seen in a long time. Students returned to the site at least once a month to remove the weeds and overgrown grasses, clean out the base of the rain garden, plant new plants, improving the overall quality of the space.

The Kitsap Conservation District, donated soil supplements and provided a staff member to be onsite for a session to teach students about the environmental benefits of rain gardens. The project will follow the students as they return as fourth-graders, when they will plant native species beneficial to pollinators, engage in observational learning, and tend the reestablished garden.