A work in progress

Carina: Two great things have come out of our spring planting process.  One has been having the grade 8s out in the garden for the first time, first wielding some hammers and building a garden bed, and then planting our newly built bed.  While I find it hard to hear cries of “Oh no! A bug!” I realize that it is only through repeated exposure that this cry eventually becomes, “Oh great! A bug!”  We are going to have our first class harvest next week.  

Another great thing that has arrived with spring has been our partnership with the Lord Nelson elementary students.  Their after school cooking program has become an after school cooking and gardening program, and it has been exciting to watch these students connect with their food in these ways.  The first thing they do when they come in is check on the status of their tomato plants!

Patti:  I wasn’t sure how the Culinary students would react to being out in the garden, as I didn’t give them a choice – I basically told them “The gardener is here and we’re doing some planting!”  I asked them to give me some feedback and here are some of the excerpts:  

“Working in the garden is a fantastic experience.  The sun on my back, my hands in the warm dirt, giving life and watching something grown into something beautiful.”

 “…Seeing the class have fun and enjoy the experience.”  

“..It will benefit the students because the vegetables will be fresh…it’s a good skill to have.”

“…My favorite thing to do was to water the plants.”

 “…I also learned how to tell the difference between different types of herbs.”

“… Relaxing and therapeutic.”

“…I love working in the garden!”

 I was quite surprised, and delighted, by the student comments – you never know how students will react to a new experience, and it’s obvious this was a very positive one!

Greg: My Geography 12 classes the past two years have been involved in the development of the gardens. Students have grown two successful crops including kale, carrots, tomatoes and this year, garlic. This year we constructed the compost bin area and started the composting following the instructive workshop.

There were some very keen students who felt comfortable working with the soil and compost as they have been exposed to such activities at their homes, while there were those who had never picked up a shovel or touched soil before and were very apprehensive to do so. With encouragement from others they soon enjoyed the experience of having dirty hands. Students commented on the taste of fresh picked carrots, the interesting bugs/insects which inhabited the garden, and the compost odour and the heat which emanated from it!

Aaron:

The Life Skills class has enjoyed being included with the school garden once again this year. It has been a great learning device for the students, from going out to buying plants in the community, to being responsible for planting and watering the vegetables when needed. Watching the growth of the vegetable plants is going to be very thrilling for all of us and even better when we are all able to eat the finish product. Having a wheelchair accessible gardening plot at Templeton has been really appreciated by the Life Skills class and we can’t wait to keep adding to the garden throughout the years.

Glenn: The creation of the school garden has provided a great opportunity for Science and Technology 11 students. Students have been researching and designing various garden “accessories” such as plant beds, herb spirals, insect hotels, benches and water catchment systems among others. During the design phase Kim and Erin from Nettle’s Guild provided a workshop on permaculture design principles, along with individual consultation on each group’s accessory design. Students are now beginning the “build” phase and are looking forward to setting up their individual accessories and witnessing how each one enhances the garden.

 Farm to School BC gave us the opportunity to support Templeton Secondary School as an outside community organization. We have watched the garden grow from just a spark of idea to an exciting growing space and outdoor classroom. We have enjoyed so much working with the amazing teachers, who have put so much energy into this project, and the students that get so excited to go outside and get their hands dirty. Our favourite highlights have been visioning for the garden with the teachers and mentoring the Science and Technology students on their exciting garden projects.