Learning Garden

Learning Garden 13: First Harvest
Twenty days after planting tiny radish seeds, the second graders harvested bright red radishes. Radishes are a great first crop; they sprout and grow quickly. Not much for delayed gratification but instant success! The students stood at the edge of the raised bed and pulled their very own radish. They were curious, intrigued, and fascinated with how a tiny seeds grew into a red round vegetable. An excellent example of the natural process of plant growth and development, where the combination of sun, soil, nutrients, water, and air can produce a consumable substance.
Learning Garden 12: Teach the Teacher
I have found that many teachers want to incorporate a learning garden into their curriculum but do not know how to garden. This is not a big issue for the teachers if they collaborate with an experienced gardener, horticulture agent, garden club, or master gardener to help train the teachers.
Learning Garden 8: Plant Selection
Choosing what and where to plant takes research and thought. I have compiled a list of things we took into consideration when we selected the plants that will transform the courtyard into a platform for hands-on learning through nature.
Learning Garden 7: Raised Beds
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.
Learning Garden 6: Building
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.
Learning Garden 5: Volunteers
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.
Learning Garden 4: Designing the Garden
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?
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