FRESH from the Garden - November 2021

Fall has always been my favorite time of the year with cool crisp mornings and sunny warm afternoons. It is also a time when the garden is winding down for the season and it can be difficult to plan outdoor activities during the colder months. Nature mandalas are one way to connect with nature year-round and can be completed indoors.

The word mandala comes from Sanskrit and literally means “circle”. Coloring mandalas has become a popular form of relaxation, but you can also use natural objects to create mandalas. It is not by accident that so many of us sought peace in nature during the pandemic. Just collecting or interacting with natural objects can have a calming effect. Read more about the impact of nature on human well-being in this article from the University of Minnesota.

I like to use (and reuse) black felt circles as a background to create nature mandalas. Students can collect natural items, such as leaves, acorns, and flower petals, from home or the school garden. A variety of dried beans, grain, rocks and shells also work well. I love to see all the different creations that students come up with; no two will be the same. I also have come to recognize the importance of impermanence. This mandala represents this moment and this moment is not permanent, the emotional learning benefit is in creating, not keeping, the mandala. Whatever is happening in our lives right now whether good or bad is not permanent. Fall is a wonderful time and the school garden is a wonderful place to observe and understand change.

Weather is something that affects our lives in a big way, from what we wear and where we choose to live, work and play, to the kinds and availability of the food we grow and eat. Adding a weather station to your school garden can be an engaging way to study weather by collecting data and observing weather patterns. When it comes to learning about weather, I prefer the low tech approach. With digital weather stations students only see the data, but with simpler hand held instruments they can be involved in collecting that data. A weather station is the perfect way for students to collect both qualitative and quantitative data and it is much more meaningful when they collect that data themselves. Here is a list of instruments that we like to see included in a weather station.

Cardinal directions (painted pavers in the ground can easily accomplish this)

Thermometer (large and easy to read, labeled with both Fahrenheit and Celsius)

While a few crops, like kale and Brussels sprouts, may still be producing, most of the fall garden will be put to bed for winter. Below are 5 tips to help prep for winter downtime. For those plants you want to keep going, simply add a protective layer of mulch and keep a frost blanket handy for cold spells below 25 degrees.

While preparing your garden area for winter and the next season, keep in mind that not everything needs to go in the compost bin. Many plants may have set seed that could be harvested. Are there any seeds you want to keep to sow next year (an age-old practice called seed saving) or you might send some home with students? Some seed heads may provide bird food through the winter. Consider if there are any art projects that could incorporate dried flowers. Once you’ve determined any potential uses for garden “debris,” it’s time to haul off any remaining spent plant material to the compost bin.

General cleanup tasks might include: disconnecting and winding up hoses, picking up any plastic flats or inserts that were left around the garden, taking down signage that needs repainting or replacing over the winter, and removing gridding string from square-foot beds if you want new classes to re-grid next season.

This is a great time to add compost to your beds. If you’re not able to top-off your beds now, you can still involve students in calculating the amount of soil needed before planting again in late February. Remember, this is a volume calculation that involves the length, width, and depth of the area needing soil. Multiplying feet x feet x feet will result in cubic feet which is the common measure for bags of soil from a garden center. If buying in bulk from a landscape supply business, you will need to convert the total number of cubic feet to cubic yards (divide cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards).

While out doing clean up jot down notes of things that went well that you’d like to repeat and what things you’d like to avoid in the future. It’s so much easier to reflect on these things at the end of the season while you’re looking at the space. It’s also a good time to note what items need to be replaced, such as hoses or watering cans.

It’s a great time to ready the tool shed for the upcoming season. Allow a few students to put their minds together to “reorganize” the tool shed and take pride in making this happen. It tends to have a bigger impact on student ownership of the garden when they are involved in the decision making for having the tool shed look tidy and function well.