New season starts for college medicine garden

Nestled in a corner on the west side of the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College's main building is a medicine garden. Laid out in the shape of a turtle, it is divided into nine sections. The head and the feet make up five sections, where pollinator plants grow. The shell of the turtle is divided into four sections corresponding to the four cardinal directions. The north-facing section is planted with sweetgrass, the east section with tobacco, the west with sage and the south with cedar.

Before last fall, it would have been difficult to distinguish this patch of woods from the rest, but it was recently restored. Students Tanya Atallian, Ashla Ojibway and Valerie Zhaawendangozikwe led the endeavor as a capstone project for their environmental sustainability certification.

The trio first came up with the idea two years ago.

"We looked at the old garden and said, 'Let's remake it and make it more usable,'" Zhaawendangozikwe said.

That began the planning stage of the project. Last fall, they started planting and making other improvements to the medicine garden area.

The students also collaborated with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa.

Their help was appreciated, Zhaawendangozikwe said, especially during the landscaping and planting last fall.

"Some of us came in without a lot of gardening experience," she said.

June 5 was planting day for the three students and close to a dozen volunteers, including a couple of kids spreading the fertilizer with little shovels.

Fixing up the perennials was the first step. There was mulch to spread and the brick edge of the garden required weeding. There was also discussion on how best to take care of the cedar tree in the southern section of the turtle, damaged by the heavy snowfall last winter.

While part of the purpose of the garden is to grow native plants, it is also supposed to provide education and a gathering spot.

"[It] will provide a place of congregation and contemplation for our students, faculty and staff," said Elizabeth Dean, coordinator of the sustainability food systems program, in a news release last fall.

The garden's role in education will largely be centered around its caretaking. The students have put together a plan for taking care of the garden in the future. They've divided work into components that will be woven into curriculums so that students can take care of the garden.