School garden classes have been an important vessel for fostering reconnection and relationship with the natural world.
I began teaching in school gardens in 2013. What started as lesson plans and controlling focus quickly morphed into creating a container of exploration and connection where I could support, guide, and influence from a place of relationship that honored each individual plant and child.
I realized that the garden was the teacher. All I had to do was nurture it and it would deliver lesson after priceless lesson.
I created boundaries and expectations(for the safety of all the living beings) and then I Allowed.
Sure I influenced attention and I directed energies; but mainly I allowed, witnessed and participated in the exploration and growth innate to every child.
In 2017 I dropped my other schools to commit and take ownership of the school garden at Durham Elementary. It was clear to me that there are limits on my ability to connect and I wanted to take the garden relationship to a higher level. With PTA support we organized workdays and community was built around the garden. The students got more space and more life to interact with and the teachers praised the opportunity to have a place to allow children to be children.
It was as close to a “Forest School” within the public school model as I could get.
A lot has changed since March 2020. Government mandates cancelled the program. It was hard to watch the connections fade and the garden to fall into disrepair.
My containers of creating space for children to interact with and learn from nature have shifted.
I am building a garden classroom in Shepherd Park, and I am offering garden classes at Treesearch Farms.
Treesearch Farms is a beautiful wholesale nursery with plenty of space to play and grow.
Check out the classes tab for upcoming offerings.
The Gardens at Treesearch Farms
