I’ve been busy lately dreaming about and planning the garden I’ll be planting with my kiddos in our backyard come spring. To whet our appetite for what’s ahead, we spent this morning helping to clean up my son’s school garden.
First, a little about the garden: It’s huge! And what an amazing place it is! There are raised planter boxes for each classroom, pathways that meander about the entire garden, plants intended to attract butterflies and trees creating nice, shady spaces.
Although the garden is owned by the school, budget cuts have meant that the responsibility for its upkeep has fallen to a few dedicated parents (myself included). Tons of rain combined with busy families translates into a garden neglected for far too long. We had our work cut out for us!
What we did: For the parents, there were gynormous weeds to be pulled (really, they were beyond huge), grasses to be mowed, edges to be edged and so on.
But more important for the kids, there were overgrown pathways to explore, bugs to discover and future gardeners looking to get in on the action.
My five year old wanted to pitch in and help me pull weeds – until he found his first ladybug. Then he was off from one planter box to the next searching not just for ladybugs, but for worms, rolly polly bugs and whatever else was moving in the dirt. And the other kids were eager to join in on his quest.
The kids were also fascinated with all the tools involved – gloves, shovels, trowels and of course, the lawn mower.
My 21 month old – who usually doesn’t stay in the same place for more than a second – was a fixture in the dirt with us. He loved the bugs — perhaps a little too much for this poor worm …
He also enjoyed trying to help dad with the big shovel he was using to dig out weeds and loved pulling out the small ones mom was tackling.
What I learned: Watching the kids in the garden was inspiring.
I saw countless displays of teamwork, heard tons of shrills of excitement at the discovery of a new bug or the yanking of a huge weed, and witnessed an eagerness to try new things unmatched in other environments.
Older kids watched out for younger ones, younger ones found ways to help older ones and no one felt left out.
Watching my littlest find pleasure in the dirt, the bugs, the weeds – all of it – was heart warming. This is a kid who’s favorite word is “go” and is always looking for an escape route no matter what we’re doing. To see him engaged and enjoying himself so much just felt good.
My oldest nearly cried when it was time to head home for lunch. Which in our world means he had a really, really good time.
I wish our school had such a cool garden, but you're right little money, and it really falls on the volunteers to usually run these things at schools.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. This garden is definitely a special place. It was a joy to watch all the kids working together & enjoying the outdoors, the dirt, the discoveries … I am inspired and ready to create my own such magical place in our backyard (with much help from Alison's great gardening series!).
What a lovely large space to garden in. I'm so glad the kiddos had a fun time. Aren't garden bugs just fascinating!<br /><br />I'll be excited to see what comes of your home garden dreams too.<br /><br />Regards, Alison
That's awesome. What a beautiful garden.
Sounds like such a great day! I'm starting to think about gardening, too, but it is a little farther away for me.
What a great thing to have at your school. My son loves gardening. He gets so absorbed he will work for hours and forget to eat unless you remind him.
LOVE this, Debi. So glad the family had such a wonderful morning in the garden!