March Outdoors and Know your soil

Last week we started the garden based curriculum for our centers. What a successful week it was. I visited three centers and delivered curriculum and taught the kids. It was great to finally get some time with the children; being in the office so much the past six months made me forget just exactly who I am working with and what I am doing. The grassroots level is the place for me because I can engage the program head on with my staff and students. It is hard to work "for" people and much easier to work "with" people. If you want to know how you can help a certain population; get outside and get to their community. Donate with your hands and not your wallets. Not only will you help more; you will connect and create newness.
The children really enjoyed spending time learning about the gardens. We talked all about the rules most recently. BE SAFE>BE RESPONSIBLE>BE RESPECTFUL there are also sub rules LISTEN>LOOK>AND BE GENTLE. Keeping the rules positive and simple is the easiest way. I don't like rules that start with DON'T or NEVER. Rules like that take the power of learning out of the situation. Keeping it positive allows for introspection...for instance. "Timmy do you think you are being responsible and respectful of the garden when you rip up the plants?" as opposed to "Timmy, DON'T you understand the rules? DON'T do that!" This week we will be building some viewfinders for the children out of tp rolls. I want them to have these binoculars for the entire season. It will be a fun tool to use but it will also bring the childrens attention to observation. It will keep them busy looking as opposed to touching which they will have time for. We are holding back on planting for a few weeks. I was hopeful that the weather would cooperate but it seems a cold front is settling in for another week. THE LOWEST SNOW LEVELS for us this year are predicted...don't you love Oregon? It works out well because we will be working on some indoor planting and other lessons for several more weeks. Other than building binoculars we will be prepping for some indoor planting with the kids. The gardens are looking good. I am shallowly fluffing up the soil to prepare the beds for some seeds. Soil temps are in the 50's and 60's during sunny days. Start grabbing that soil and seeing when it is ready for planting. Feed your beds and perennials. Get ready for slug season in April...they will return no matter what you did last year. Spring planting is coming up. Enjoy the photos.