Discovery in the Garden Classroom
by Barbara Bryant
February 16, 2024
This month marks my one-year anniversary of volunteering in the Gardens at Reynolda. I am looking forward to many more in the future and would like to share my experience with you.
Preceding the orientation on February 10, 2023, I met Hayden Shuping one day in the Greenhouse. We shared stories from our shared garden center and nursery experiences, and he encouraged me to consider volunteering. I signed up.
Over the next several months, I had the opportunity to experience a variety of garden projects that rounded out my weekly greenhouse commitment. April introduced me to the Spring Plant Sale. My involvement with prior preparation and working on sale day further enriched my getting to know my fellow volunteers and the great Gardens staff.
As the summer months moved by, another orientation meeting was scheduled. The meeting included something new. An additional hour and a half was dedicated to Janie Bass, who spoke about her plans for education at Reynolda Gardens. I was intrigued. Janie gave her presentation, and I was hooked.
A small group of us then gathered together to develop a plan to create field trips for third and fifth-grade students. Janie organized us, gave us guidelines and structure, and encouraged us to embrace the opportunity to be a part of the children’s learning experience. She also made it fun. We began to realize that when the classroom is in an open space, it is much more relaxed and almost playful.
I had the good luck to work the “Parts of the Plants” Station. The staff provided us with a treasure trove of flowers, seeds, leaves, and stems. We talked about eating plants, smelling plants, and growing plants. We cut them up and looked at what made them work. We laughed about what parts of the plants tasted really good and others that were certainly really bad. They shared their experiences and discovered new ways to look at plants. They eagerly volunteered what they had learned about the soil and its importance in a plant’s life from the other stations in the garden.
One third grader happily announced the reason flowers were so important was because you could give them to your girlfriend. Another proudly claimed they only ate fast food and never vegetables when asked if they knew of a leaf that is good for eating. Everyone joined in the laughter when they realized everyone’s favorite fast food, French fries, are indeed potatoes. At the end of the day, the thoughtful small boy said, when asked what he had learned about flowers that he didn’t know before, “that when a flower looks like it is dead, it isn’t really because it lives on to make seeds,” brings a smile to my face.
As our field trip season progressed, I came to realize the real beauty of the garden as a classroom is that we are giving these kids the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate a total plant environment. I feel quite fortunate to have shared this with the children. I can’t say enough what a treat it was to hear the word, WOW, repeatedly with such enthusiasm.
I will continue to enjoy my Greenhouse volunteer hours and the Plant Sale experience twice a year. Yet, it is the field trips that bring me true personal pleasure. I welcome and encourage anyone who wants to join us and contribute to this amazing garden classroom.