UP ON TOP! GARDEN CLUB,
SPRING 2023
After a series of monthly visits when summer camp ended last year, it was great to get back into a weekly routine with the kids through March, April, and May of 2023. They’ve grown into such amazing stewards of this special spot, and are so comfortable and confident taking care of the plants! Plus, we had some slimy new pets to take care of, which got a lot more curious little folks into the mix. I’m really blown away at how much of themselves they’ve put into making this garden their own.
Snail habitats!
We had a snail problem on the patio. They were everywhere, eating everything — but the kids absolutely loved them. So we repurposed some old plastic packaging to become snail habitats, and it completely shaped the rest of the spring sessions. Every week we’d collect snails from the garden and put them in a fresh habitat, and clean out the old one. The kids were amazing with these mollusks — so gentle and thoughtful. It was fantastic. One ended up with a drop of pink paint on its shell, and the kids named it Dot, so I put together a little zine about Dot with some fun facts about Cornu aspersum. I also painted some rocks with snails on them that the kids could take home.
Birdhouse planters + succulent propagation!
These were such a big hit last summer that we had to do them again.
Bye bye, aphids!
These little menaces wouldn’t leave our beautiful hibiscus tree alone last summer, and they kept at it through the spring. I brought in some ladybugs again — always a hit with the kids! — and did some major pruning, and (fingers crossed) everything is looking great!
Harvest day!
We had a bunch of amazing growth through the spring but by the last session, all our crops were still a work in progress — except the baby carrots. We were able to harvest and eat a super small, but super perfect batch — and they were delicious!
