Doors to Adventure: The Library Learning Patch

What a fun new adventure!! Yesterday we began our meetings at The Library Learning Patch--our gardening group at the local library. I was delighted to meet the great group of children - 6 in all. The first order of the day was to make name tags. We then passed out their garden notebooks and gave them their first homework assignment, asking them to place stickers each day on their calendars showing whether the weather was sunny, cloudy or rainy. Then we began to learn about soils. Our library has many good children's books about gardening. The first book I chose was was Miss Rumphius, a story about a woman who travels all over the world and then comes home to plant lupine seeds in order to make the world a prettier place. Then we discussed the various types of soils where she might have planted the seeds We learned about sand, silt and clay and looked at and felt samples of clay and silt. The children especially liked looking at the soil through a magnifying glass.

Learning about soils through books

Then it was time to venture outside. We had a nice warm day for February. Lisa, our library director, had set up a table on the front walk. We had coffee cans filled with various types of soil-sand, clay, both red and black, silt, topsoil, and soil from my pasture. First the children crumbled each and felt the textures. Then we added water and made mud pies. That was the favorite activity of the day! We compared how the different soils felt. As a homework assignment each child was given a jar to fill halfway with soil of their choice. They are to fill the jar with water, shake it well, and let it settle. Then they will draw in their journals the layers of sand, silt and clay and report back to me next week.

Children intently watching the wetting
of the soil

Playing in the mud!!

After thoroughly examining the soil, we had some pretty yukky hands! The children we very good about taking turns being hosed off! Then it was time to examine our proposed location for the garden.

Yes, this seems to be a good site

After reviewing the requirements for a good location (sun, convenience to water, close to tool storage, etc.), the children decided that this was a good place for their garden. I explained that we would bring good soil in.

Our next stop was to check on the progress of the plants I had started from seed. They took turns watering the little peat pots. I showed them our next week's project--making seed starting pots out of newspapers.They will plant seeds in the pots, as well as outside when weather permits.