Fall 2023 - Week Twelve

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!