An Element Of Hope

Apples

Grapes

Cherries

Lettuce

Oranges

Carrots

Watermelon

Jello

Potatoes

Cantalopes

Plums

Brocolli

This is the list we came up with when I asked the children what they would like to try to grow in our reclaimed garden.

I'm not much of a gardener myself and, until recently, I've never had a functioning garden at the preschool, so I'm learning at least as much as the kids. We've always had a rag tag bunch of hearty plants growing out there, but they were by definition species that thrive on neglect, like rosemary. 

One of our first acts as caretakers of a real garden was to fill the beds with inexpensive pansies and primroses.

It gave the area some color, but there's not a whole heck of a lot to do with these flowers other than a little dead heading, so once we got them in the ground that was that.

We did keep one bed empty (there at the back in the center). This was where we were accustomed to finding big, fat worms, due at least in part to the fact that this is where our Halloween pumpkins have been left to decompose for the past 8 years.

Finding worms is a popular activity and one we wanted to continue, but I also wanted to use that bed for our seed planting experiment, so we spent last week making that old sand table into a worm bed. So far this has turned out to be a winner. I found some cheap bug boxes at Daiso (the Japanese dollar store) and there are some kids (like Max, Annabelle, and Isak) who have spent most of their outdoor time filling their boxes with worms and "feeding" them scraps of banana peel and orange rinds from the snack table. There's at least one worm in there that's as big around as my pinky! I suspect it won't be long before it has a name.

Early this week, then, we began our seed experiment. I was unable to locate grape seeds (all the stores I go to only sell seedless) or cherry pits (not in season), and we already have some potatoes growing in our burlap bag planters . . .

. . . but did manage to collect everything else on the kid's list, in addition to some snow peas, and we got to planting, carefully marking each type of seed with craft stick signs. (I plan to find pictures of each kind of fruit or vegetable to add to the signs this weekend.)

We then noted the date and type of seed in our garden journal, where we will take notes of our observations. Katherine has also requested that we keep clipboards in the garden so the kids can draw what they see. Excellent idea!

As we discussed our plantings, several of the children started worrying that the "little kids" (the Pre-3 class) would walk on our seeds, so we decided to put up the little white fence. Unfortunately, the segments of fencing we had were too long for the short ends of the bed. No problem. We carried our fencing over to the construction area where we carefully measured, then Katherine and Charlie B. sawed them to the proper length. Voila! This all happened on Wednesday. There was a great deal of disappointment when there was nothing to observe on Thursday.

We added bell pepper seeds from the snack table to the experiment yesterday, and we tried adding pineapple, but the seeds were so tiny we kept losing them before we got them into the ground.

As for those beds full of pretty, but unexciting flowers, we've made the decision to transplant all of them into the pots in and around Little World and turn the beds over to full-on food production. Yesterday, we cleared out room for the radishes we've been sprouting in a little "jiffy pot" hot house. We spent a lot of time talking about the importance of including the root system with the flowers as we transplanted them, and I'm sure some of them won't survive the move, but their growing season is drawing to a close anyway. We then got our two dozen or so radish starts into the ground, Orlando doing much of the work. It shouldn't be long before we can start adding them to our snack table.

As we discussed the prospects of our seeds at circle time, there was a general sense that we are going to be wildly successful. Many of them seem excited about growing apple and orange trees, for instance, but I love their reaction when we get to the Jello. They all giggle and look at each other, but so far not one of them has spoken his doubts aloud. There's always an element of hope, I guess, when it comes to gardening.