The Importance of Slowing Down
To start the week we visited the extensive and inspiring garden at Windermere Secondary School. The garden is over 10 years old and is very well developed. It was eye opening to see the expansiveness and student involvement in the garden. The greenhouse, composting system using the Earth Tub, the orchard, and bee houses illustrate the effort, time and money that has gone into this garden. Because of this garden and the time it takes to care and manage, more courses have been developed around the garden in order to have enough volunteers to keep in running. In a secondary school setting, I feel as though that is an amazing freedom; to be able to develop courses that are directly linked to caring and learning about the garden. The produce grown in the garden is then used in the school cafeteria for salads, desserts and tea! To see such a thriving school garden and orchard that contributes directly to the school community was inspiring. Although this garden has been well funded, managed and has the resources necessary to thrive (student involvement, greenhouse, composting system, space, courses devoted to the garden), an elementary school setting may not have these luxuries. For me, it’s important to remember that a ‘starter’ garden isn’t necessarily that expansive. It grows with time and resources.
This visit also allowed me to see the impact that school gardens have on the students that are involved. Brendan from Roots on the Roof at UBC used to attend Windermere Secondary School and was involved in the garden in its infancy. Douglas, a grade 12 student who gave us our tour of the Windermere garden and orchard, was extremely well spoken and passionate about the garden and knowing where food comes from. Brendan pursued a degree in nutrition and food and land services and will be starting his BEd in September, while Douglas is studying culinary arts. The connection between hands-on, place-based learning and life experience through to pursuing a passionate career was exciting to see.
It rained Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, making it difficult to work or be in the garden. The rain in Vancouver could be a factor for interest and motivation with a school garden. And with the rain and change in schedule, this week has been very unstructured. It has been quite relaxed, and this unstructured time has provided space to process and reflect. John Ames modelled the importance of slowing down and taking time to ease into work, to be thoughtful and not rush. During practicum, and most of the program, rushing has been the main theme. Many things are lost in the art of rushing. When we slow down, take time to have a tea or coffee, and to have regular conversations with our classmates and teachers it can be quite valuable. This time allowed us to reflect on the previous week’s activity with the musical storytelling and transmediation workshop that John had introduced us to. We spent an afternoon drawing and sequencing a story titled “A Day in the Life of a Bee and a Lupine”. We brainstormed as a group a narrative to go along with our timeline drawing. It was great to see this activity come full circle.
We learned about how to incorporate mathematics in the garden in a variety of ways. Mathematics can be used to measure beds, seed distances, map the garden, volume and quantity of water the plants need, harvest and yield etc. We focused on geometry and geometrical shapes in the garden by constructing mini models of our final project — a hyperboloid structure that would later be planted as an architectural piece in the orchard garden. This hyperboloid building project combines multiple disciplines such as mathematics, art, engineering and outdoor education. The mini models were created out of wooden skewers and hair elastics.
That afternoon we started to build our final project; this time using 12 ft bamboo poles and special orchard tree elastics. We worked as a large group and laid out the bamboo in double layers exactly as we did with our mini models – only to find out after lifting it up that it did not compare to the existing hyperboloid structure in the garden that we were trying to replicate. Confused as to why it didn’t work out like our morning model, we threw around the idea of using our hyperboloid structure for something other than the intended archway in the garden. Despite our new brainstorm, we decided to take it apart. Twice. This created much tension and frustration in the group. There seemed to be a lack of understanding on the part of the organizers in terms of the final product that we were producing. This was a great reminder of the importance of planning lessons and group activities and the organization and understanding that need to accompany the planning. That said, the large groups worked relatively well together once we started delegating tasks. Much learning comes from unanticipated outcomes.
The team from Gestare introduced us to the concept of a Nap-In at the end of the week. My understanding is that from coming together as a community, napping and discussing our dreams and visions brings up issues or great values in our society. We participated in a Nap-In session and, similar to last week when he had an uninterrupted quiet work period in the garden, it was lovely and refreshing to have quiet time in the middle of the afternoon. There is so much value in slowing down and pulling ourselves back from the busy, spinning world. Lying in the grass, with the breeze rustling the trees was definitely a treat. We constructed/wrote/sewed fabric, beads, buttons (anything really) to represent a vision or dream and shared them. Mine was a piece of birch tree with a long light blue ribbon. I wrote, “my life is peaceful, but my dreams are not” on the blue ribbon. I have an amazingly peaceful and wonderful life, and I have no trouble falling and staying asleep; however I rarely have dreams, they are always nightmares. It was powerful to put my feelings into words today.
The transition from the stress and routine of long practicum to the more relaxed, flowing ease of the community field experience has been challenging. I feel I have learned so much about the importance and value of slowing down, collaborating, and not necessarily having a plan.