Saturday Workshop at the Garden

Today the CFE students spent our last day in the garden! We all took part in a wonderful Saturday workshop, led by Manny, Stacey, Zeynep and Emma. They started the workshop with a land acknowledgment, and then we spent some time introducing ourselves and sharing which living thing we would choose to be in the garden, if we could be anything. I chose to be the cheerful green clovers, basking in the sun. The team gave us all an update on what new things have been growing in the garden lately as well! 

Our first activity was to find a quiet spot on our own and to sit in that space and observe whatever we noticed. I chose to sit in the little space beneath a low-hanging apple tree. Once we had spent some time sitting peacefully in our sit-spot, we used our imaginations to create a story about one thing we found in the space. For example, we could pick a plant we observed and give it an elaborate backstory. We had time to share our stories with a partner after. Then we had a break to indulge in the delicious snacks the team made, many containing fresh ingredients from the garden.

During our break, we explored the adorable medicinal herb activity set up by Zeynep.

After break, we came back together for another coding-unplugged activity in the garden. Partners took turns creating an artwork out of natural materials they had collected in the garden. They then attempted to write out specific instructions for their partner so that they would be able to recreate their partner's artwork, without having seen it first. 

Thank you all to everyone who came out and for the amazing group who facilitated this beautiful day in nature!

It's been an amazing 3 weeks at the Orchard Garden. :)

Amy

June 27 2025

 Yesterday was a beautiful celebration of the summer solstice. My fellow teacher candidates did a phenomenal job at organizing the event. The group I am in have been working hard to plan our workshop for tomorrow. I won’t give too much away but it involves activities that are focused on being in an outdoor space and do not require many materials. Today my group is working on preparing food that we harvested from the garden to make snacks for the event tomorrow as well as ironing out any little things needed for tomorrow. 

Learning outdoors has inspired my teaching practice and helped me consider different ways I can bring my future class outdoors to learn, and learn with the land. Yesterday Susans department head, Samson Nashon, said, “you speak to the garden, and the garden speaks to you”, and this really resonated with me. To have a mutualistic relationship with the garden, to me, means responsibly harvesting, asking permission before harvesting, and thanking the plants and the land they are on. The Ubc Garden is located on the  unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. As a future educator it is my responsibility to make sure that my work uplifts Indigenous ways of knowing and being, and part of doing this is to recognize and honour the land we are on.

Summer Solstice at the Orchard Garden - Stacey and Manuelle

Today we gathered in the UBC Orchard Garden to celebrate the summer solstice, and what a celebration it was! This annual gathering brought together a beautiful mix of new and familiar faces, from nearby daycare groups to university dignitaries, all drawn together by a shared love of this space and the spirit of the season. There’s something truly special about seeing the littlest visitors exploring the garden. Their sense of wonder and excitement is contagious, and being in the garden with them always brings it to life in a different way.

The day was full of joy and connection. We had story time nestled under the trees, live music drifting across the fields, garden tours to showcase what was growing, hands-on plant printmaking, and an impressive spread of food. The weather held out, just the right balance of light cloud cover and a cool breeze to keep us comfortable.

  

There’s no better time to celebrate the cycles of nature than the solstice, the longest day of the year and a truly vibrant moment in the growing season. You can feel a shift in the garden this week. The tomatoes have shot up, clearly soaking in the long hours of sunlight, and many of the plants seem to have leaped forward overnight.

Solstice has always felt like a natural moment to gather, an invitation to slow down, look around, and honour where we are in the cycle. Today’s celebration was a reminder of how the garden connects us: across generations, roles, and rhythms. We’re so grateful to everyone who joined us. Here’s to more sunlight, more community, and more growing together.

Week 3- Wednesday June 25

 Today the group working on the summer solstice celebration met up at the garden to prep and make sure things are good to go for tomorrow.

We spent some time washing the different dishes and cutlery we will use tomorrow as well as set up the space by putting out the folding tables.

We also tested out the outlets and filled up one of the water containers.

We also picked some more raspberries for the guests to enjoy since so many were ripe!

It was great being able to go to the garden to prep things with the space in mind. Hopefully the event goes well and the turn out is good!

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - Preparing for Summer Solstice Party on June 26 and Saturday Orchard Garden Workshop on June 28

 

Today, both groups of CFE teacher candidates were busy preparing for their respective events whether the Summer Solstice Party on June 26 (Winnie, Amy, Anh, Joyce and Grace) or the Saturday Orchard Garden Workshop on June 28 (Stacey, Manuelle, Zeynep and Emma).

I went to UBC Orchard Garden today to get fresh leaves for the leaf rubbing activity that I will lead at the Summer Solstice Party. For leaf rubbing, I placed a sheet of paper over two leaves and coloured using a dark green crayon and a light green coloured pencil. I preferred colouring with the crayon when leaf rubbing.

Amy made significant progress painting signs for the Summer Solstice Party.

Anh bought apples, carrots and sour cream for the Summer Solstice Party.

Looking forward to both events which undoubtedly will be successful.

Winnie

UBC Orchard Garden Workshop Prep in Full Swing!

                                  You are invited to the UBC Orchard Garden Workshop! 

Where: UBC Orchard Garden at 2613 West Mall

When: Saturday, June 28, 2025, between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm

Garden Workshop Prep in Full Swing! 🌿

We’re getting ready for a morning of hands-on, joyful learning in the garden! 

Behind the scenes, our workshop team—Emma, Manuelle, Stacey and Zeynep—has been busy planning since last week. Today, we had a productive online meeting where we finalized the schedule, clarified our roles, and fine-tuned the workshop details. We’re especially excited that participants will have the opportunity to connect with one another—and with nature—in meaningful and memorable ways. 

Our upcoming Garden Workshop will feature a variety of fun and engaging activities, including a nature-based story workshop and a coding unplugged session, all set in the outdoor space of the garden. Guests will also enjoy light refreshments with natural and organic flavours, freshly sourced from the garden itself. We’ll be preparing homemade snacks using ingredients from the garden and bringing them to share with our guests.

One exciting feature will be our Herb Discovery Table, showcasing herbs such as mint, lemon balm, rosemary, comfrey, and blackberry leaves. Guests will have the opportunity to explore a selection of freshly collected garden herbs at their own pace using the flashcards provided at the table, learn about their uses—including medicinal properties—and even taste them in some of the snacks and beverages prepared for the day. 

We’re looking forward to welcoming guests into the garden for a morning filled with creativity, connection, and nature-inspired discovery.

You're invited to the Summer Solstice Celebration! Event prep in progress

Event poster by Joyce

Summer Solstice Celebration 🌞

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2025

Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Location: UBC Orchard Garden | Totem Field, 2613 West Mall 

Join us for a day of fun activities where you can explore the garden, try various activities, and enjoy light refreshments with natural and organic flavours fresh from the garden. 

Solstice Group Prep! My group has been working hard to plan and prepare for the upcoming event! We dried and crumpled blackberry leaves for tea. I took home some lemon balm to dry and crumple to mix with the blackberry leaves. The flavour is herby and healing! I have also been slowly harvesting raspberries and currants from the garden and freezing them to make into a jam on Wednesday, eventually. I also got out my cooler and hosed it down in my backyard so it will be ready to go and wheel out to the garden on Thursday.

Blackberry leaf tea (left), lemon balm tea (right) feat. funko baby yoda

Joyce got all the supplies we need for serving all the yummy goodies we will serve! (Tablecloths, plates, and cups)

Amy is using her art skills to make an amazing welcome poster and some signs for the event!

Winnie got some paper for the leaf rubbing activity she will be leading, and some chips and crisps (including gluten-free) for the event! 

At first, it was somewhat nerve-wracking as we did not know how many attendees will be there. However, as we prepare more, we are feeling more confident and ready.

We are excited for this Thursday and we are looking forward to seeing everyone there.

UBC Botanical Gardens and Planning for Future Celebrations

Today, we spent the morning at UBC Botanical Gardens. We toured the gardens, including the vegetable patch and outdoor learning space. It was such a beautiful space with a really interesting variety of plants from around the world.

                             

We ate lunch with some students from a Richmond school and Susan was kind enough to play us some music afterwards! 

We spent the afternoon planning for the future celebrations at the garden. Come on down if you're free- next Thursday we are throwing a Summer Solstice Party and next Saturday we're hosting a workshop in the orchard garden!

Land Art and a Garden Party - Stacey and Manuelle

We spent a wonderful morning at Norma Rose Point Elementary School running an outdoor lesson with some students! We had the opportunity to discover the rain garden they have in their school yard last week, knowing that we would come back to do an activity with a group of students from grades 1/2 and 6. After some great collaborative brainstorming, we settled on a land art lesson. We greeted the students in a grassy area between the rain garden and the edge of the Pacific Spirit forest, welcoming them to the space as Susan played a beautiful summer solstice song on her accordion (which many students were very curious about). Along with some brief introductions, Susan re-taught a song about the first summer day in a garden, which the students has already heard when the secondary CFE students came last month, and we grounded the group in the space with a rainstorm soundscape.  

We then read the first half of the beautifully illustrated book Be a Good Ancestor written by Leona and Gabrielle Prince and illustrated by Carla Joseph, which set us up perfectly to introduce the land art activity.

In small groups, mixing the younger and older students, the students created a piece of land art using materials found in the space. We talked to the students about harvesting materials that were already on the ground and supplementing their supplies with additional materials harvested honourably. We talked about only taking what we needed and thanking the plants and the trees for the materials they gave us permission to take. We let the students know that we would be leaving our art piece as an offering to the land. I think both the students and the teacher candidates had a great time throughout the morning! 

We spent the afternoon back at the Orchard Garden for a fun work party. It’s amazing to see the transformation of the spaces we’ve tended to over the last two weeks! We pruned the tomato and cucumber plants to give them space to grow, watered the garden, and cleared the garlic bed from so many weeds (a very satisfying job). We also harvested a bounty of raspberries and prepared some blackberry leaves in preparation for the Summer Solstice celebration next week. 

 

 

Week 2 : Math in the Garden

Today, we spent the whole day in the garden discovering elements of math using varieties of methods.

We learned how to track the pathway of the sun by using bodily movements. This was easy to follow along and understand through motor experience.

This practice helped us understand how the changes of the seasons and the length of daylight in the northern/southern hemispheres are dependent on the pathways of the sun.

We first used our arms to distinguish the direction of the earth as it faces the sun.

Then, we created motions with our hands and arms to show where the sun would begin, reach its peak point, and come down.

We also looked at the ways of how we could incorporate creative/artistic methods (for example, this light box photography) to represent the solar pathways throughout a long period of time.

 

Week 2- Wednesday June 18, 2025

 Today we had a fun day doing math in the garden! We spent the morning learning how to trace the path of the sun using our body.

Coding unplugged in the garden!

Unexpected rain in the garden!

Binary systems, even and odds

Bid- Binary digit

Coding was really fun to learn in the garden. It was very useful to learn how we could make use of our space outside and how we could use the activities we did today in our own classes. We did an activity with sticks and flowers where we created a random array of sticks and flowers and then one of them was switched and someone had to guess which one it was. This was fun to do and it was fun to learn the reasoning behind how the stick or flower that was switched can be identified. The magic was counting the even or odd number of sticks or flowers. This would be fun to do with students to get them thinking. Another activity we did was creating a coding pattern and then having someone follow the instructions we created to find a specific object. This would be great to do in a class and there are so many cross curricular connections and lessons that students can take away from the activity! For example, students can learn the importance of giving specific instructions, following instructions, teamwork, etc. This activity can also be tied into ADST and math. In my practicum class, we did coding and it was very valuable for students to learn teamwork as well as the importance of specific instructions. I would love to try the activity we did today with a class in the future! This activity can also be adapted for younger or older students making the criteria for the coding instructions simpler or more complicated.