The gardening season in Preschool 1 here at RisingOaks | John Sweeney began with Harper and I (Simone) choosing what we would be planting. Around the same time, another family, who has had multiple children in our preschool 1 room, offered to donate some plants and supplies. Thanks to their generosity, we received overbearing strawberries and tomatoes. From the beginning, the children in preschool 1 have shown such respect and care for the garden. Due to activities, stories and conversations throughout early spring. Over the summer months we’ve harvested strawberries, carrots, tomatoes, chives and zucchini that we gave to our cook Deb. We know some of the zucchini made it to our zucchini bread and our soup. We also harvested a lot of beans. It’s been wonderful to watch the children’s excitement grow, along with the plants. By September, as we welcomed new children into our group, I assumed our gardening journey would be winding down. But to our surprise, our second-year friends became leaders in the garden, encouraging the newly transitioned toddlers, and our newest classmates to visit the garden beds. They proudly pointed out the beans still growing and producing, and showed the tomatoes that continue to ripen. Every day, someone finds a ripe tomato or snips off a bit of a chive. The children often sit quietly in the garden, picking and tasting some chives, completely immersed in the experience. One of the season's highlights was harvesting two ears of corn! The children were so excited and immediately wanted more, but those were the only ones that grew this year. The garden has brought us so much joy, but more than that, it’s been a space of learning. We’ve practised patience, waiting for tomatoes to turn red. We’ve learned to be gentle when harvesting chives, knowing that pulling too hard could remove the whole plant. We’ve discovered how important worms are to the health of our soil and why we need to prune to help our plants thrive. The importance of the watering hose, knowing that the plants need water. There were always a couple of friends wanting to help with watering the garden, whether it was holding the hose themselves or using buckets to water. And most importantly, we’ve practised sharing, making sure everyone gets a turn and to try something during harvest. Every year, as an educator, I wonder if I’ll take on the garden project again and every year, I do. And every year, the children show me why it’s important! They bring it to life. They make it thrive. And they make it beautiful in so many ways.
