Winter 2024 - Week Seven
I hope everyone has had a great week and enjoyed the snowfall.
February 16, 2024 • Vol. 22
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
It’s the Gazette, Evening Edition this week! I hope everyone has had a great week and enjoyed the snowfall. I’m so glad these kids are getting several chances to play in the snow this winter.
On Monday, we welcomed a new member to the Society which is always a treat! We got down to work checking the thermometer, filling out our weather chart, and discussing the current moon phase. Our Special Guest Teacher Ellen Thiemann who will be helping out next Monday, met the children and assisted them in their garden activities like finding worms in the composter and sweeping up. Next it was time to visit our beautiful Elm trees on 4th street for a little decorating with yarn. Finally, the Society helped transplant dirt from one of our tree planters that needs mesh installed to ward off the great villain of the garden, the rat!
On Wednesday, we had hot cocoa with marshmallows for Valentine’s Day and cookies to celebrate a Society member’s birthday who will be traveling during her birthday month in March. The children also met Stephanie Skaff who will lead their class while I’m away week after next. I was able to find an actual cocoa pod to bring in so that the children could see where chocolate comes from. We read a book about chocolate, and then they got to work with their creative outdoor play. Pretty soon it was time to go inside and warm up. We finished up a gnome and worked a bit on a wrapping our balls of yarn.
Winter 2024 - Week Six
What was once a long-shot, probably-not-gonna happen dream is now a reality.
February 9, 2024 • Vol. 21
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
What was once a long-shot, probably-not-gonna happen dream is now a reality. We have NYC Parks Department tree guards on all ten of our trees!! This would have otherwise cost thousands of dollars and no doubt the Society’s signs and care for the trees helped inspire our local Assemblyman Harvey Epstein to place the call to the Parks Department after I raised the issue in an Advocacy Meeting last Fall. I spoke to the Parks Department Chief of Staff shortly thereafter and told him about the children’s work adopting the trees and taking care of them. A few weeks later, there was suddenly room in the budget for tree guards and now we actually do in fact have them!! The Garden Committee would like to plan a joint TNS-Star Academy celebration of the guards including highlights of our work with the trees later this year so stay tuned! First let’s recap the week!
On Monday, we started off snack time with some special homemade chocolate chip banana bread and popcorn. We filled out our weather chart and started talking about the moon phases and realized that we didn’t have a crescent moon shape for the evening’s moon. So we got right to work making one. We spent our entire time outside as the weather was lovely and now the kids really want to log in hours outside on their 1000 hours outside worksheet! As the kids were playing, I looked over the fence and realized that new tree guards had been installed on our Third Street trees!
On Tuesday, we were ready to celebrate our tree guards with some hot cocoa, marshmallows, chocolate chip banana bread and donut holes. We started off with some great nature play and jotted down some different leaf shapes in our Nature Journals. Then it was off to the trees to decorate them with yarn. Our first subject was the tree by the Third Street Yard dropoff point which gets a lot of traffic and litter as you can imagine. The kids did a great job wrapping the tree with yarn and weaving it in and out of the guard itself. Then it was time to go upstairs to warm up and finish work on our gnomes.
On Wednesday, we welcomed a special guest-dropin student and continued the celebration with yummy baked goods and hot cocoa. Our newest Society member adopted a 4th Street tree, and when we visited it we realized that the Parks Department had installed guards on the 4th Street trees that day. It was very exciting! Now all 10 trees were accounted for. Next it was time to decorate another tree guard—this time with a lot of special yarn work between the guard and the tree to help discourage dogs from entering.
Winter 2024 - Week Five
The children were still buzzing about their big trip to the Natural History Museum and one Society member even crafted a Lego version of the museum over the weekend, complete with dinosaurs, gems and a gift shop.
February 2, 2024 • Vol. 20
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
We had such a great time together this week in the garden! The children were still buzzing about their big trip to the Natural History Museum and one Society member even crafted a Lego version of the museum over the weekend, complete with dinosaurs, gems and a gift shop. These kids never cease to inspire and amaze me.
On Monday, we had a very fun and engaging play time. The children noticed right away the weather vane craft that I set up on the table and were delighted to see the arrow move each time the wind blew. It surprised them every time, as though it were magic! We also discussed whether or not plants were dead (annuals) or just sleeping (perennials). Sometimes it’s hard to tell! We did a winter garden scavenger hunt to see what we could find and talked about what the “C” and “F” stand for on the thermometer. Then we moved upstairs for craft time to finish up our Winter Gnomes.
On Tuesday, the weather vane craft continued to be a big hit, and we were able to use it to jot down some data points on our Weather Log. The children had a lot of fun playing with the mini-flower pots and used them to organize animals and plant cuttings for play restaurants and shops. We also started to fill in the coloring page of hours for the 1000 Hours Outside worksheet. Each day’s class is going to see who gets the most hours. So far Monday and Wednesday are ahead!
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful afternoon of outdoor play. We alternated between helpful garden tasks like cutting garden scraps into small pieces for the compost bin, with active games like garden hide and seek. We also noticed that some of our bulbs are already starting to sprout with the mild weather. Inside the Society worked on winding yarn into balls in a little knitting circle, did some weaving and one member made a magic wand—a perennial favorite!
Winter 2024 - Week Four
This late-breaking Gazette is coming to you after an action-packed visit to the Natural History Museum yesterday. Top Photo credit: Magdelena Mercier
January 27, 2024 • Vol. 19
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
This late-breaking Gazette is coming to you after an action-packed visit to the Natural History Museum yesterday. I think it’s safe to say that all of the adult chaperones are probably still recovering (thank you, chaperones!!). We had such a fun time and it was a gift to see the kids exploring the museum with such curiosity: natural explorers and scientists, all of them! But first, let’s recap the week.
On Monday, the children were bursting at the seams, ready to play outside. While most of the snow on the ground had melted, some frosty ice sheets covered the bleachers and the kids had fun lifting them up with shovels. We ate homemade oatmeal cookies and tea, and of course, a few snowballs were thrown.
On Tuesday, we checked on our trees and newly-adopted planters in the 4th street courtyard. We asked the question, why is it cold in the winter and warm in the summer, and I heard many great responses (including the correct one!). Then we headed inside where more children started working on sewing up coats for the Winter Gnomes. I’m so proud of their patient attention as they work on their sewing skills.
On Wednesday, we made ice sculptures with the remaining ice blocks in the garden. The children loved this activity so much they abandoned their snacks in order to play! We splashed in puddles, made an ice cake and mixed some potions for a stuffed animal veterinary practice. Then we went inside to work on our Gnomes and Winter Scarf Project.
On Friday, the kids were so excited for our big museum field trip! I was very impressed with their savvy subway skills. Our lovely chaperones brought muffins for the kids to snack on (again, thank you chaperones!). When we made it to the museum, the kids had to celebrate with a few laps outside chasing birds. Inside, our first stop was the Rose Center. It was not necessary at all to engage the children in the exhibits or spark their curiosity. They were ready. Next up was the fourth floor to see the Dinosaurs. Time flew by and before we knew it our time was up and we had to start heading home. Many of the children were disappointed to leave and not see their favorite exhibits, so perhaps we can plan a slightly longer trip this year.
Winter 2024 - Week Three
Happy Snow Day!
January 19, 2024 • Vol. 18
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
Happy Snow Day! I was thrilled to be with the kids in the garden this week with all of the snowy fun. What a week.
On Tuesday, the children were literally bursting at the seams to go outside in the snow and play. Snowball fights, snow angels, and hot cocoa with marshmallows. Who could ask for more?! We also discovered a beautiful ice sculpture when a plastic bowl of water froze overnight. After an hour or so outside, we came in to warm up. Some of the students interested in handwork started learning how to wind a ball of yarn while the others did some creative play in the classroom.
On Wednesday we were thrilled to welcome a new student to the Society! Once again, the kids couldn’t wait to go outside and we had a lot of fun making ice stews and crunching up the ice with shovels and sticks. One Society member had fun experimenting with the thermometer to see how it changed in hot water versus in snow. Then we went inside, read some books and had the most delightful craft circle.
Winter 2024 - Week Two
I had such a great time in the garden with the kids this week.
January 12, 2024 • Vol. 17
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
I hope you all have been having a good week! I had such a great time in the garden with the kids this week.
On Monday, we welcomed a new member to the Society and had so much fun working on additions to our felt weather calendar. The children were so eager to design their ideas they could not wait until after our nature walk! Next we visited the trees and adopted the planters on 4th street courtyard. Finally we returned to the 3rd street courtyard for a visit to the Bushy Bushy side and had so much fun with the composter. The worms are very exciting!
On Tuesday, the rains were still mild and so we headed outside for a rainy snack time. There was a little tarp rain shelter set up for the children, but most of them preferred to play and tell jokes in the rainy drizzle. When we were done eating we headed upstairs to Room 207 and had lots of fun playing with the wooden blocks and planting narcissus.
Winter 2024 - Week One
Such a delight to be back in the garden with the Society this week.
January 5, 2024 • Vol. 16
Greetings Honeysuckle Families and Happy New Year!
Such a delight to be back in the garden with the Society this week.
On Tuesday, we had fun catching up over snacks and then did a nature walk around the block to see how our trees have been doing over the break. Then we met the planters in our 4th street courtyard and each Society member got to adopt one which was very exciting. The children wanted to know which plants were in their planters and instantly started taking care of them! I was so impressed. Finally we returned to the 3rd street courtyard to work on new types of weather to add to our felt calendar. The children are always dazzling me with their ideas, and one Society member had the idea to add moon phases to the calendar as well, which we will!
On Wednesday, we read a Gail Gibbons book about weather during snack time which inspired a great discussion about different types of weather adventures we have had. Then we visited our trees and our new adopted planters in the 4th street courtyard. Finally we returned to 3rd street and assigned different yarn colors to different temperature ranges for our Weather Scarf Project. The children also learned how to take a skein of wool and turn it into a ball that you can work with for knitting.
Fall 2023 - Week Fifteen
What an amazing Fall season we have had!
December 22, 2023 • Vol. 15
What an amazing Fall season we have had! From rainbow scavenger hunts to butterfly gardens to mud shakes to adopting trees to making our own terrariums it has been quite a year. Each member of the Society has contributed to our nature neighborhood in significant ways. I am so proud of all that they have done and I hope you are too!
On Monday, the storm passed and the sun popped out just in time for us to head outdoors. We had a tarp down for dry seating so that the kids wouldn’t get wet on the rain-drenched bleachers. They were quite engaged in figuring out the ecosystem of an acorn and we talked about food chains and the different levels of who eats what. As usual the kids enjoyed being nature detectives and seeing what animal and bird activity has been going on in the garden in their absence.
On Tuesday, we had a lovely long nature walk around the third and fourth street garden courtyards as well as the trees. We noticed the changes that had taken place since the season began and what our favorite activities this year have been. Then we returned to the garden for some candle and garland making!
On Wednesday, we mapped out the ecosystem of our Third Street courtyard and then got busy playing and exploring. We brought out the candles and talked about the upcoming Winter Solstice and how the days will start getting longer. Overall the children seemed quite acclimated to the chillier weather and I’m very proud of them!
Fall 2023 - Week Fourteen
More great news!!
December 16, 2023 • Vol. 14
More great news!! According to Harvey Epstein’s office, the NYC Parks Department has agreed to provide the remaining nine tree guards for us this spring. Hooray! I am so proud of our kids and their hard work caring for their adopted trees. Our school’s janitorial staff has also stopped placing the garbage and recycling in the tree wells, and I’m seeing less and less trash around the trees every week. I hope that the children will feel a sense of ownership around these changes due to their work caring for the trees.
On Monday, during the Nature show and tell, I brought in some items from my own outdoor space and we talked about how they are connected in an ecosystem. Then we got to work mulching our trees. When we returned to our garden home base we created ecosystems of our own in a terrarium. Then we visited the composter, and the children figured out how to spin it on their own without any help!
On Tuesday, we celebrated our Fall birthdays with hot cocoa, marshmallows and donuts. I also took some dried anise from the garden and a clear tea pot so the children could see how to make tea from dried herbs. The festivities put everyone in a good mood and we had a lot of fun visiting the trees with buckets full of leaves for mulch. We also added a few more decorations on them. Finally we worked on more terrariums and created custom paper gift bags with potato stamps.
On Wednesday, we celebrated a few more Fall birthdays as well as our tree guard news. We also had fun looking at seed catalogs to think about what to plant next spring. There was a great discussion on ecosystems, food chains and how we are all connected. We then visited a few trees before returning to create terrariums and popcorn-cranberry garlands. We wrapped up after hours with a game of tag, the Wednesday group’s favorite activity to end the day.
Fall 2023 - Week Thirteen
As you may have heard we had a great victory this week!
December 9, 2023 • Vol. 13
As you may have heard we had a great victory this week! I could not believe my own eyes on Tuesday afternoon when I saw that the New York City Parks Department had installed a genuine tree guard around our newest 4th Street tree!! I am so happy that we are on their radar, due in no small part to the work of our Honeysuckle kids!! First things first, though, let’s recap the week.
On Monday, the children were very excited when I brought out some small plastic toy animals and immediately started incorporating them into our garden habitat. This month’s focus is on Ecosystems and we have been talking about how the animals, the plants, trees, and the soil are all interconnected as a nature community. We planted some more bulbs, added leaf mulch to the trees and then made animal footprints in clay and on paper.
On Tuesday, we celebrated our new tree guard with some brownies during snack time. Then we got to work giving our trees some wood mulch on top of the leaves as the weather is getting colder. One of our neighbors stopped to thank the children for their work taking care of the trees, and I mentioned to him that through their work adopting these trees they have helped encourage the city to provide us with a real tree guard! When we arrived at our new tree guard, we spent a lot of time decorating it with ribbons, string and pipe cleaners.
On Wednesday, we had a chillier afternoon and I was so proud of how the children wore their winter gear without much fuss. We started our afternoon with more celebratory brownies, a lot of creative play and then visited some more trees to mulch them. We came inside to briefly warm up and wash our hands. Then we returned to the garden for a game of animal charades which turned into a high energy game of chase as the sun set.
Fall 2023 - Week Twelve
This week we have been thinking about how to use the clues around us to see what the animals are doing in the garden, especially when we are not around.
December 2, 2023 • Vol. 12
This late-breaking edition of The Honeysuckle Gazette is coming to you after a great trip to El Sol Brilliante on our half day yesterday! But first things first. This week we have been thinking about how to use the clues around us to see what the animals are doing in the garden, especially when we are not around.
On Monday, we had such a fun day. When the kids saw the clay leaf print on the craft table they got right to work making their own clay nature sculptures and food for their stuffed animals from home (thanks for bringing those in!). Next we planted bulbs and sprinkled compost on top of our garden beds. The kids really got into our animal unit, pretending to be dogs playing outside.
On Tuesday, we talked more about animal footprints and learned to tell the difference between a cat and a dog footprint (hint: cats retract their claws when they step). We planted more bulbs before heading inside to pick out looms for our weaving craft, playing with the wooden blocks there and admiring the stick bugs.
On Wednesday, we talked about other types of animal prints like a fox, a frog, a raccoon, and how to differentiate between them. We did more spring bulb planting and had a great time crunching up leaves to put on top of the compost.
On Friday, we took a field trip to El Sol Brilliante. A garden member named David met us there and showed us how he brings in his family’s food waste and turns it into compost that he uses on his family’s plot. He also showed us where the honeybees are resting in their honeycomb hives as the weather gets colder and invited us back in the spring to see them in action. Many thanks to David for letting us explore the beautiful garden and to Gabriela and Lyon for helping chaperone!
Fall 2023 - Week Eleven
I am so grateful for these kids and the adventures we have been having together so far.
November 24, 2023 • Vol. 11
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday break. I am so grateful for these kids and the adventures we have been having together so far.
On Monday, we started getting ready for spring by planting some allium bulbs in our 3rd street courtyard and continued to take care of our trees by covering their soil with leaves. We also made some herb bouquets of oregano, sage, thyme and mint. To wrap up we played a game of animal charades.
On Tuesday, we enjoyed our snack with warm tea under the tent shelter in the drizzle. Then we ventured out to install a few signs and add more leaves to the tree beds. Finally we dried off in room 207 to examine the stick bugs there, talk about camouflage and why they look sticks in addition to making our herb bouquets.
On Wednesday, we discussed animal friends and foes of the garden and focused our nature walk on collecting leaves to add to the tree beds and discussed how to preserve our favorites. The kids did a wonderful job of finding leaves to fill our buckets and stomping them down so we could add more. After mulching the trees with these leaves we returned to our 3rd street garden to make some animal origami.
Fall 2023 - Week Ten
I am so proud of our kids and all that we have done together so far.
November 17, 2023 • Vol. 10
Happy Fall Everyone!
I can’t believe we are already in the middle of November. I am so proud of our kids and all that we have done together so far.
On Monday, we had our nature show and tell, reviewed how trees help animals and started asking how animals help trees and plants in the garden. We also installed a few more signs and made lanterns.
On Tuesday, we visited our trees and gave them some mulch for the colder days ahead. We also installed a sign and painted our last few signs before getting to work on our lanterns.
On Wednesday, we had a very busy day. We played the game “Who Am I?” by describing animal behavior in a forest or garden setting. We looked at a book on Weather one of our classmates brought in. We talked about how animals spread seeds and discovered how to collect seeds on our own. We also put new soil in our planters that were empty and created a shelter in our garden for one of the class bears. Finally, we made lanterns and did a lantern walk, singing songs around the garden.
Fall 2023 - Week Nine
I hope everyone has had a good week and been enjoying the beautiful leaves changing color!
November 10, 2023 • Vol. 9
I hope everyone has had a good week and been enjoying the beautiful leaves changing color!
On Monday we revisited the book, “Because of an Acorn” and continued thinking about how trees provide homes, shade, and food for many of the creatures in their nature community. Then when we visited our trees on Third Street to install signs, we also looked out for any animals, birds or bugs we might find there. Afterwards we washed our hands and then the children got busy initiating their own crafts like fairy houses, repeating a beloved craft like yarn “spider webs” or painting rocks for our yet-to-be-named rock snake.
On Tuesday, we did not meet since school was closed, but I’m really looking forward to seeing the Tuesday group this coming week!
On Wednesday, we really paid extra attention to the beautiful leaves in our garden and took an extra bucket on our nature walk to collect our finds. We also thought about how the tree is a focal point of the nature community and when we returned to the garden we made animals from our leaves to show how we are all connected.
Fall 2023 - Week Eight
I hope everyone had a great Halloween!
November 3, 2023 • Vol. 8
I hope everyone had a great Halloween!
On Monday we had quite a busy day installing our first tree signs on 4th Street. One says No Dogs Please and the other says Kids Garden Here. Be on the lookout for them! We also examined the differences between oak, elm and callery pear leaves, and practiced saying “deciduous.” After our tree work, the children played with some jack-o-lanterns and made pumpkin potions with baking soda and vinegar.
On Tuesday, we celebrated Halloween by reading the book “Pumpkin Soup” and eating some Boo chocolate peanut butter bars. We took care of one of our trees on 4th street and collected leaves on the walk back to make collages with. Finally we whipped up some of our own “pumpkin soup” in carved-out pumpkin cauldrons.
On Wednesday, we read the book “Because of an Acorn,” which explores how an oak tree supports many of the birds, bugs and animals in its community which is the perfect transition into next month’s focus on Animals and Bugs. We also enjoyed some licorice tea and finished off the chocolate Boo bars before tending to a few of our third street trees and installing some of our signs there. When we returned to our garden home base we painted rocks to build our rock snake and made some leaf collages with treasures from our nature walk.
Fall 2023 - Week Seven
This week we continued to work on taking care of our adopted trees.
October 27, 2023 • Vol. 7
This week we continued to work on taking care of our adopted trees.
On Monday we discussed how children played a central role in the creation of the 6BC community garden that we visited on Friday, and I showed them before and after pictures as well as pictures of children helping to make it the beautiful space it is today. We thought about how the work we are doing with our trees is similar. We then visited our oak and elm trees on 3rd street, before painting signs for our trees with messages like: No Trash Please, We Love Our Trees, and Kids Garden Here. Be on the lookout for these signs in the coming week! We also painted some pumpkins.
On Tuesday, the brooms were the popular work station in the garden once again and the children “flew” around the garden before watering and mulching our trees. I am so proud of their hard work with the trees and can see an improvement in their condition just over these past few weeks.
On Wednesday, we read the book “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea” to revisit the idea of children renovating public spaces for the better. We talked about how tree wells should not be treated like trash cans and how valuable their work with the trees is. It has been so lovely to see them connecting with their trees: hugging, rubbing mud on the bark, and showing their tree off to family and friends.
Fall 2023 - Week Six
This late-breaking edition of the Gazette is coming to you after our first half-day adventure to the 6BC Community Garden yesterday.
October 20, 2023 • Vol. 6
Wow, what a week! This late-breaking edition of the Gazette is coming to you after our first half-day adventure to the 6BC Community Garden yesterday. But first let’s recap the week.
It was so nice to see our Monday kids after Indigenous Peoples’ Day off last week! After snack time, the children were newly interested in the sweeping station and had fun pretending to be witches on their brooms. We focused on one of the Callery Pears on 3rd street that needed lots of love and returned to work on a weaving craft with sticks that we call spider webs.
On Tuesday, we ventured over to 4th street and tended the trees there, many of which needed lots of water. The children did a wonderful job carrying their buckets and tools over to the trees.
On Wednesday, we visited 4th street again and worked in our nature journals. Trees were hugged, watered and weeded, and we found a very large grub which was exciting. Afterwards we worked on our spider webs again.
On Friday, we ate our snacks and talked about the historic East Village Community Garden movement in the 70s and 80s and connected it to the work that we are doing in our tree wells. We did our first big adventure to the 6BC Community Garden. Many thanks to Magdelena Mercier and Kristen Showty for chaperoning and coordinating our access to the garden. The kids needed no help appreciating the wonder and delight of this magical space and got right to work exploring and drawing in their nature journals. When we returned we made our way to Room 207 and worked on painting signs for our adopted trees.
Fall 2023 - Week Five
This week we continued the very important work of caring for our adopted trees.
October 13, 2023 • Vol. 5
Greetings Honeysuckle Families,
I hope everyone has been enjoying the crisp fall weather! This week we continued the very important work of caring for our adopted trees.
On Tuesday, we focused on a Callery Pear tree and an Elm tree on Third Street. We started off by working a compost-y soil mixture into the dirt around the trees along with compost tea which of course led to mud pancakes. Once our soil was in better shape we sprinkled mulch on top. Some long-time residents of the East Village who had been involved with creating the community gardens in the neighborhood stopped to thank us for our hard work. We saw many, many smiles as we worked from passersby this week.
On Wednesday, we took care of a Japanese Elm and an Oak tree on Third Street. As we worked the soil into the ground, the children made up their own little song to sing! I was so proud of how hard they worked and how well everyone put their gloves on. We wrapped up by building fairy gardens and making potions.
Fall 2023 - Week Four
It’s October and this month our focus is on Trees!
October 6, 2023 • Vol. 4
Greetings Honeysuckle Families on this rainy Friday!
It’s October and this month our focus is on Trees! Each child this week adopted a tree on the school property to take care of.
On Monday, we started using sandpaper to connect to the wood that we use every day in our garden and also to help keep our hands from getting splinters. We started off class with this sandpaper station and a new compost cutting station in addition to the ever-popular water station. Then we met our adopted trees and did some bark rubbings to get a feel for the different types of textures each tree has. We wrapped up class making some fairy gardens and compost tea.
On Tuesday, we discovered that one of our planters had lots and lots of worms and got busy making little bug homes for them. We met our trees and did some leaf rubbings in addition to bark rubbings.
On Wednesday, we checked in our individual compost bags and mold-growing projects. We talked about the different parts of a tree, met our adopted trees, and got down to business taking care of them by pulling out the weeds and a few garbage pieces. We all did a very good job finding gloves to wear beforehand and washing our hands thoroughly afterwards. I was delighted with how happy the kids were to take care of these trees who need so much love.
Fall 2023 - Week Three
This week we wrapped up September by learning about compost.
September 29, 2023 • Vol. 3
Greetings Honeysuckle Families on this rainy Friday!
This week we wrapped up September by learning about compost.
On Tuesday, we gathered under our little tarp for snacks while a light rain fell down. We began our time together by taking a short walk to visit the new compost bin at the end of the block. We fed the bin scraps from our snack time and talked about the ways that nature recycles itself with the help of mold and little friends like snails and worms. We talked about what does and does not go into a compost bin. Then we created our own mini-compost bins by gathering browns and greens on our nature walk and made some compost tea to feed the plants next week.
On Wednesday, we enjoyed sunnier skies and gave the garden compost bin several spins on our nature walk to look for worms. We made mini-compost bins as well, examined a snail up close and got to work on growing some mold on bread in ziplock bags. Several Society members tended their butterfly gardens, enjoyed making some flower arrangements and even a magic potion at the end of class.