If you are building a learning garden, the raised garden beds may be the central focus of all your teaching. It is important that you have the right material for your school gardening efforts. Fortunately, our county extension office just renovated their demonstration garden, and I can show you some examples that can be used at school or at home.
The educational and environmental impact of an outdoor classroom and learning garden is not easily measured, but it certainly can be measured by a smile when they bite into a freshly picked apple.
Have you heard the joke, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”? I might add, “with a lot of volunteers!” That’s how this garden project is going; we tackle one step at a time. First the vision, then the fundraising, and now the building: All of this is accomplished with the help of parent volunteers. We can hardly wait to see our kids learning in the outdoor classroom! Until then, we have skid loaders, scaffolding, tools and piles of dirt.
As I drive to the grocery store, I pass a school with an outdoor classroom and learning garden. I have often been envious of the space and considered how lucky they are to have it. A few years ago, the school principal contacted the Extension Office asking for help from the Master Gardeners. Despite having an amazing resource, only one (yes, one) teacher uses the space. An incredible resource left fallow and neglected by most of the staff. How can this happen? What went wrong? Why aren’t they using it?
Gardening makes me happy, especially when I am gardening with my three girls, as seen in the picture below. The benefits of a garden are undeniable.
April 9, 2012 Read more