The Garden Project News
Redwood Class probably set some kind of world record, taking under one hour to build 8 raised beds in the garden—one for each West-Mont class! Yay! Half the school classes have planted veggies and edible flowers in their plots already, and the rest of the classes will be following suit very shortly, planting the seeds of their choice! There’s so much to see in the garden... tons of exciting changes. A living wall of strawberries. A clematis tunnel. A pea teepee! Come on up and check it out! And don’t forget to pluck a few weeds on your way out; )
Compost Use
The new compost is working and being used on a daily basis! Once again, thanks to Redwood Class for helping build the compost boxes. We’ll use them for years to come so you should be very proud of yourselves, oh great stewards of the Earth! There are three compost boxes. Please put fresh compost (fruit and veggie waste, paper etc. ) into box #1, which is located furthest away from the garden gate (and closest to the staff road). As that waste breaks down, we’ll move it to box #2 (in several months), then eventually to box #3, where it will be almost ready to use. Please don’t put meat products or garbage (plastics, glass etc) into the compost.
Garden Curriculum
The pre-K to grade 8 classes use the class beds and the garden as a whole to study plant and life sciences, social studies, math and art... any kind of learning is possible in the learning garden! Check out lifelab.org and click on “curriculum” to get an idea of the amazing curriculum we’re using—developed over many years by a group of educators in California, and recommended by the Smithsonian Institute! These teacher resource books are located in the WM library if you want to take a closer look.
Spring Gardening Work Parties
Every Tues and Wed. morning at 9:15, including through the summer months. Come one, come all! No experience is necessary, and toddlers and babies are more than welcome to join us! We have tons of laughs in this feel-good get together, which is guaranteed to be the bright spot in your week!
Parent/Teacher Helpers Needed
We need people to interface between teachers in each classroom, and the garden. In other words, we need you to discuss with each teacher season-appropriate activities for the class you’re volunteering for, and help arrange to get the classes up to the garden to carry out the activities. The garden committee can assist you with lesson plans to offer and copy for the teacher, as well as seeds, tools, and even an extra hand up at the garden.
Materials Needed
If you have any plant or other materials you might think are useful for the garden, we’d love to hear from you! At the moment we’re in need of carpet, composted manure, bark mulch (not hog fuel), sand, established asparagus (root systems), and about 20 small watering cans for the kids.
Thanks
A super big thank you to past and present West-Mont families and the community at large for your support of the garden since it was first established! And a huge thanks to the following for their recent donations: Roche Cove Llamas (manure), Down to Earth garden centre (pansies), and the William Head Institute (lumber and wooden structures).
History of the Garden
The staff, parents and especially students have all become increasingly 'green' over the years. West-Mont believes that the best way to teach young people about the environment and the need to protect it is to get them out in it. We pride ourselves on our "classrooms without walls" philosophy and we are extremely proud of our wonderful award winning learning garden.
West-Mont’s Learning Garden was formed around the time the school moved to its current location about ten years ago in Metchosin. The project was started by a small number of dedicated volunteers, local residents, farmers and school staff, all with the common vision of providing an outdoor garden classroom; an area for the K- grade 8 children to grow their own food and plants (native and non-native), and study everything from basic plant and animal anatomy, to water and carbon cycles, to photosynthesis, to seed dispersal methods, and pretty much everything in between.
Over the years the garden has evolved, and about three years ago a major overhaul took it from being almost entirely a summer crop food garden to something much more manageable on a year round basis. Now the garden has class plots (where they grow the food of their choice, with a focus on spring and fall crops), a large herb garden, raised lettuce tables, container veggies (carrots, radishes, salad greens), a berry section, fruit trees, and of course a native plant area. We also have a happy little box of mason bees that helped pollinate our garden and trees this spring.
Additionally, our school chose the Compost Education Center as the charity for our annual auction, and money raised for them is being used to create educational programs that will be available for and benefit students of ALL schools.
We’ve worked hard to bring a great deal of pixie magic to the garden as well, seeing as that’s what will get students’ (and volunteers’) attention and keep them rushing back for more. The kids always delight in the giant and bright colored dahlias that grew from an ugly potato like tuber they each planted in the spring. And the twists, turns and tunnels of the fairy garden have even the biggest kids eager to get in the garden and spot something new. The herb bed (an actual brass bed planted with thyme and moss as a patchwork quilt, and topped with a succulent plant pillow) always gets their attention, until they remember the pea teepee just around the corner. After a feast of peas, they carry on through the herb garden and around the pizza garden. They have learned exactly what’s good to sniff, what smells good when you walk on it, and what tastes they like best. Then on to the rest of the garden they go, to learn that day’s lesson with their teacher.
When the kids leave West-Mont’s Learning Garden, they usually have a flower or carrot or interesting seed pod in their hand, a green veggie ring around their mouth (instead of a chocolate mustache), and they always, always, have a glint in their eye and smile on their face.