Each year, it is fun to introduce a new batch of students to The Nature Center and Garden. We always begin with a tour of the Garden and then the Nature Center. The third visit is always about seeds. Everything is exciting for them, and the expressions on their faces as they make connections or find out something new are priceless. I am fortunate to be a part of this experience with them, and believe that it will be a positive influence on their lives for years to come.
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Due to the unseasonably warm weather this year, we had no pumpkins to carve - most of them are on their way to becoming compost. So, for our Fall activity, we made scarecrows. Our students brought old clothing and hats, with some extras from a thrift store. They were stuffed with leaves from our Nature Center that we had raked up. It was Big Fun for everyone! Stay posted, the completed scarecrows will appear next week. For now, here they are with their proud creators - from wooden crosses and piles of clothing, to nearly done. Everything in our world has a job. Luckily, the students always know that their job is to go to school and study. However, they don't usually know what the jobs of the creatures in our Nature Center and Garden are. The cleanup crew are the ones eliciting the most "ewwwww's"! I tell them that we would be up to our necks in trash and rotten vegetation if it weren't for the beetles, slugs, snails, cockroaches, ants, and various rodents. Butterflies may be more attractive, but just because you aren't quite as glamorous, doesn't mean you don't have a place or important purpose in this world! In the case of the grubs found by the Garden Helpers, the purpose is to be chicken food! It's that time of year again. We'll bid our warm weather vegetables adieu and look forward to a wealth of greens instead. We are fortunate in Southern California to be able to grow things year round, instead of being limited by cold weather and snow. So, the Garden Club began the task of pulling out faded pepper and tomato plants, ancient chard and dry beans. Off to the compost bin they went, where they will become nutrition for future plantings. Soon we'll be planting carrots, radishes, spinach, lettuce, cabbages and peas. Garlic will be here soon and the onions are already in the ground. We had great success with broccoli last year, so it will be planted again, along with trials of cauliflower and brussel sprouts. For the butterflies, hummingbirds and bees, we have some sweet pea and wildflower seeds to scatter. There are useful seeds to plant too - clover and Fava beans to improve our soil. Who knew that fall cleanup could be so fun?! It came to me as I was organizing and getting ready for the Garden Club students to begin with fall cleanup and planting, that our orchard had expanded over the last year. I thought perhaps that people might like to know what their children are tending and becoming familiar with. So, besides our vegetables and the myriad California Native Plants in the Nature Center, here are the fruits that we are growing in the Garden! It will take a couple more years before these trees truly begin to produce, so we have much to look forward to! THE NIEMES ORCHARD
The pumpkins all ripened extremely early this year - whether you believe in global warming or not, that would be a fact! Instead of 25 pumpkins in October, as we had last year, this fall, 22 of them are already on their way to rapidly becoming compost. The concept of compost is difficult to explain to adults. Try explaining to TK-6th children! What they all do know, because of their science lessons, is the circle of life - that things begin, grow and die. Because they take part in the beginnings - planting the seeds, watching the plants flower, fruit and flourish, it is natural to also see the ending. So, as the scent of decaying pumpkin flesh fills the air, our students can see the process of death happening - but more importantly, observe NEXT year, as the seeds that were left behind sprout, and grow large and healthy, as a result of the composted plant matter. They will enjoy seeing the new pumpkins again next year!
When I ordered the California Native Plants from the nurseries last year, a message came back that two of the trees must have been incorrect because it was not "normal" for a school to have them on their planting list. The two trees were a Sequoiadendron sempervirens, or Coast Redwood - the tallest tree in the world - more than 350', and Sequoiadendron giganteum, or Giant Sequoia - one of the largest - 30' in diameter - and oldest trees in the world, up to 3,000 years. It is true that they are not meant to live in our area - they live in Northern California along the coast or in the Sierra Nevada mountains - but how awesome if we can replicate their native environment well enough for them to grow. Many of our students will never visit the Redwood forests. But if the trees thrive, they, and future students, will enjoy seeing them in our Nature Center. It's amazing to think that one of the trees we planted might be here long after the buildings and all of us are gone. It's been a hot spring and summer, but so far, so good!
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Kathleen IrvineCertified Horticulturist, Artist, Teacher Categories
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