This past week was the first week of the Middle School gardening class that I'm helping with. And I'm pleased to say that it all went very well, except for one day when we got rained out. It actually was cloudy with some light sprinkles every day, but on Thursday it was pouring with lightning, so we didn't even try to work outside.
Day 1 was just orientation, when we all introduced ourselves and met the kids. We showed them the area that we will be planting, the tools we'll be using, and described some of the field trips we will be having throughout the course. We also toured the Middle School courtyard and introduced them to some of the plants and trees there.
There is a science teacher and a language arts teacher working on the project also, and they are tying their teaching in with what we are doing in the garden. They are having the kids keep journals which they share with us each day, talking about what they learned each day.
On day 2, we go our hands dirty. Henrietta, the landscape designer who is the head volunteer and who has been doing amazing work getting all this organized, brought buckets of compost from her garden, along with pots, seeds, and soil amendments. We explained all of the components and had them mix up potting soil and plant seeds of beans (to take home), pumpkins, gourds, parsley, and sunflowers. We are hoping these will sprout in time to be set out in the garden in the 4th or 5th weeks of class.
The kids were a little restrained on the first day, but after they had the fun of actually doing something themselves, they started to get into it. And on the third day, when we had our field trip, they really got excited. The field trip was to Henrietta's garden, which is about a mile from the school. We'd arranged for all the kids to be dropped off at Henrietta's in the morning, and then we walked back to school after we were done.
At the garden, they got to learn about more different kinds of plants. In addition, Henrietta showed them her compost piles and showed how garden waste decomposes into compost. She had them sieve compost, showing them where the compost that they had planted in yesterday had come front. And when they got back to the classroom, the science teacher taught them more about soils and compost, which of course made a lot more sense to them after they had actually seen it in action. And with the language arts teacher, they learned about different poetry forms, such as haiku, and wrote some poems about the things they had seen at Henrietta's.
One big hit of the field trip was that Henrietta had arranged to visit a neighbor who keeps bees. The neighbor actually came over in full bee-keeping regalia and kept the kids (and adults) entranced for about as hour. She opened up a hive and let us see the bees inside, and then gave us samples of different kids of honey and wax that she has harvested from her own bees. The kids had lots of questions, and it was hard to drag them away. I learned things, too.
To keep them entertained during the walk back, we introduced them to 4 plants at Henriettas, then gave them maps so they could mark off whenever they saw those plants on the way back to school. The plants were pretty common: daylilies, hosta, geranium, and euonymus, so there were plenty of sightings.
On the 4th day, we were hoping to start weeding the bed. But as mentioned above, the rain was coming down like crazy, and there was lightning and thunder, so we didn't even want to try it. Hopefully Monday will be better and we'll get a little extra time to make up for missing a day. So instead they spent the full morning in the classroom. One of the things they did was make thank=you notes for the bee lady - making big honeybees out of construction paper and then writing their notes on the bees. They were very cute.
We'll be getting some new kids next week, as some families who signed up for the course were out of town on vacation this week. It's too bad they missed the first week, but so it goes. Next week, we'll start by weeding the bed. Then we're visiting another garden to dig up and bring back some donated plants. After we get back, Henrietta will explain how she decides how to lay out the plants, and we will work together as a group to figure out what should go where. And, if time permits, we'll start planting.
I'm going to have to miss Thursday's class next week because I have a board meeting I have to go to at the exact same time. I have to say, I'll be really disappointed to miss out - it's really been a lot of fun.
In addition to attending the activities and helping schlep things around, answer kids' questions, etc., I've been doing a little bit of behind-the-scenes work. I managed to arrange for a $500 grant to pay for the tools, supplies, and some plants that we will be purchasing. I've recruited a well-known local photographer and naturalist to lead a walk along the Charles River in week 3. I've helped with donating some supplies and finding others on the internet. I suggested the idea of constructing a wattle fence if we have time, and researched internet articles about how to do it.
But Henrietta has really been the force behind it all. She has such enthusiasm for gardening, which becomes very evident to the children as she works with them. It's been a real joy to watch her in action, and also to meet the other local gardeners (Deborah, Wende, Ann, and Lois) who have been helping out. And the kids are fun, too, especially as I'm getting to know them now. Definitely a great volunteer activity.
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