Garden Projects at Woodside National Historic Site

Our gardening projects have been unfolding due to the milder Spring weather. The children were busy planting perennials, herbs and flowers from the Victorian Era around the Museum building during our May 14th and May17th visits. In collaboration with Parks Canada we are embarking on several projects exploring the plants, games, technologies, and tools of the period.

It was inspiring to listen to the children name most of the thirty species of plants as they continued gently planting them alongside the historic building. The children were familiar with plant species such as Sage, Lavender, Salvia, Lilies, Irises, Pansies, Pearly Everlastings, Lambs Ears, and many more. Forming relationships with the plants is a joyful process, we marveled at the diverse poetic names given to plants: Lungwort for example has many names such as Twinkle Toes, Ladies Milk Drops and Pulmonaria Officinalis. Many of the children added to the creative process by sharing the names of the plants in their first languages.

We continued adding to our Three Sisters Garden, we chose plants such as Strawberries, Heritage Potatoes, Sage, Heritage Tomato Species to express our thanks to Indigenous Cultures of Turtle Island for the gifts of plants that are now grown around the World and sustain humanity. We talked about the importance of gratitude towards plants as they sustain, heal, and provide oxygen for us.

We discovered that some of our Three Sister seeds have germinated despite the dry weather conditions. We discussed the growth cycle and anatomy of seedlings and followed the children’s lead in generously watering all the plants. It has been inspiring to observe the children exploring the soil, gently carrying the seedlings, observing the root structures, stems, flowers and discovering plant sciences through hands on and personal invitations.

The children discovered the creative potentials of gardening as well, they chose the colours and patterns to express their creativity with living art. We are looking forward to observing the ever changing, growing ephemeral art projects throughout the seasons.

We spent time observing the opening and expanding umbrellas of the May Apples, the children searched for the unique blooms of the Cobra Lilies in the forest, respectfully marveling at the unique anatomy of the plant.

Art explorations emerged through the most surprising loose materials. The children used the wooden mallets to create charcoal art on a variety of wooden surfaces. Groups used wood pieces to build a “fairy kitchen”. The most inspiring structures emerged from wooden slats as a result of co-operative play.

Our projects will emerge in collaboration with Parks Canada, we are looking forward to sharing our learning, discoveries and projects with the community. If you would like to find out more about loose materials, please explore the following publication: https://www.communityplaythings.com/.../2015/loose-parts

Szeretettel, Eva