Solstice Preparations and Garden Reflections

 Today is the day before the Summer Solstice Festival!

Today is the day before the summer solstice festival! The summer solstice festival team has been working hard the past few days to get everything ready for the big day!

The morning glory vines and flower crowns are prepped for the flower crown-making activity.

The signs and decorations are all ready!

The lemon balm, red currants, and carrots are all growing nicely in time for the festival tomorrow.

We will be serving lots of snacks and refreshments tomorrow, including a raspberry crumble made by Keegan and watermelon and apple slices provided by Kirstin! 

Saturday Workshop preparations and reflections

While the Summer Solstice team put their final touches on their preparations for the event tomorrow, another group of us prepared for the final Saturday workshop of this season! This included preparing prototypes and samples of crafts made from Empress seed pods, mixing herb butter to accompany the delicious bread generously donated by Bread Affair, and painting sample wildflower cards with the natural pigments (beet root, blue spirulina, and turmeric) that participants will create during the workshop. On top of that, we are preparing some drink options both hot and cold, as well as creating a wildflower ‘scavenger hunt’ for participants to have fun getting familiar with the variety of wildflowers in Orchard Garden that they can use as inspiration for their artwork! The team is super excited to host the workshop, and are bringing in any materials that can make the day even more special - such as extra paint brushes, paint, and fruit to snack on. 

Empress Seed pod necklace prototype

Herbs for herb butter! 

It has been a great joy to collaborate with other Bachelor of Education students across cohorts and build new friendships as we prepare for these final events! In a program as large as the one we are in, and as busy as it is, it is hard to branch out and make connections across cohorts. The garden has been such a lovely setting to get to know one another. Being situated outside created a magical atmosphere. Removed was the sterile environment of a classroom, where the clock dictates our movements. The garden invited us to tune into our bodies and minds, fresh air and sunlight brought a lightness to our group, and time began to shift from monochromatic to polychromatic. This experience in the garden has shown us the positive personal shift that takes place after an extended period of time in the garden. Of course, anytime in the garden is wonderful, but, getting familiarized with spending each day outdoors, and with our surroundings, begins to morph the way one interacts with their immediate setting, and then trickles into settings beyond. I’ve found myself looking at the world differently, looking at trees in my neighbourhood and wondering what kind they are, looking at flowers in neighbours gardens and appreciating the time and care that went into their moment of bloom. I can’t speak for the whole group, but I truly found my nervous system was able to settle after spending this time in the garden. When a prompt of stress or urgency came to mind, like it so often does at school, it was able to drift away when returning to my surroundings, looking at the sky, having my hands in the dirt - a big shift from experiencing those feelings in a classroom. Mindfulness is much harder to access in a desk and chair, with fluorescent lighting and projector screens. This experience has reminded me that this is the foundation of human nature - to be connected to our earth, and to be connected to one another.I am so grateful for this experience and for Susan’s expertise, welcoming energy, and passion for learning outdoors! 

Above all, these preparations offered more than just an opportunity to organize and plan activities. They also created space for us to reflect on everything we have learned throughout this Community Field Experience. Over the past weeks, we have explored the many benefits that gardens can offer students, not only as spaces for growing food and plants, but as environments that foster curiosity, connection, stewardship, and belonging. 

As we prepare for this final workshop, we find ourselves returning to a question that has followed us throughout our time at the Orchard Garden: What is a garden? After visiting many different garden spaces, such as the UBC Botanical Garden, the Nitobe Memorial Garden, the guerrilla garden, and the Orchard Garden, our answers continue to evolve. A garden can be carefully designed or organically developed. It can serve as a place for food production, scientific cultivation, ecological stewardship, learning, or community gathering. Yet across all of these forms, gardens remain places of relationship, intention, and story. 

Perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons we are taking away from this experience: gardens are not simply places where plants grow. They are places where questions grow, where relationships grow, and where learning grows alongside them.

- Kirstin, Katie, and Sara

Getting ready for Solstice & Saturday

Saturday Workshop Preparation By Ladan:

Preparing for our Saturday Workshop has been much more than gathering materials and planning an activity, it has been a journey of curiosity, creativity, and quiet wonder. Every step of the process has reminded me that nature is not only something we observe, but something we can create with, learn from, and cherish.

For my contribution to the workshop, I have been exploring the remarkable seed pods of the Royal Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa). At first glance, these delicate shells seem simple and unassuming, yet they hold endless artistic possibilities. I have been experimenting with different ideas, creating samples that transform these natural treasures into painted wall hangings and unique pieces of jewellery. Each seed pod carries its own texture and character, making every creation beautifully one of a kind.

Part of my preparation has involved testing a variety of artistic mediums and paint types. My goal has been to strengthen the fragile shells while preserving their natural beauty, allowing them to withstand more intricate artistic techniques and creative expression. Every experiment has taught me something new, about the materials, about patience, and about the remarkable partnership between nature and art.

Alongside the creative process, I have also been preparing a small booklet filled with fascinating facts about the Royal Empress Tree. This extraordinary tree is admired around the world for its breathtaking lavender blossoms, its astonishing rate of growth, and its ability to regenerate after being cut back. Beyond its botanical wonders, I have been collecting mythical stories and cultural legends that surround the tree, revealing how it has inspired imagination across generations. These stories remind us that trees are more than living organisms, they are symbols of hope, resilience, renewal, and the deep connection between people and the natural world.

As I prepare for Saturday, I feel grateful for the opportunity to share not only an art activity, but also a story. I hope participants will see these humble seed pods not as fallen fragments of a tree, but as tiny vessels of possibility. Through creativity, conversation, and exploration, something once overlooked can become meaningful, beautiful, and lasting.

This workshop celebrates the simple magic that happens when nature meets imagination. I look forward to seeing hands create, minds wonder, and hearts discover that sometimes the smallest gifts from a tree can inspire the greatest moments of creativity.

Solstice Celebration Prep by Kat:

We have also been busy preparing for our Solstice Celebration, which in many ways feels like a love letter to the Orchard Garden. We are excited to share the magic of this place with others and to showcase the many ways the garden can teach us. By designing and organizing activities around materials found in the garden and the processes we have learned over the past several weeks, we hope to demonstrate the incredible learning opportunities that both the Orchard Garden and outdoor education can provide.

Over the past two days, we have worked closely with our Solstice group to finalize activities, gather materials, plan the food, and organize the décor. One of our biggest concerns has been deciding how much food to prepare and what to make, but after talking it through together, we are all feeling much more confident. We are especially excited to share some of the Orchard's seasonal offerings, including raspberries, lemon balm, and autumn olives, just to name a few. Alongside these treats, we are looking forward to serving garden-infused teas made with ingredients such as foraged blackberry leaves.

We have also spent time preparing materials for our activities. We gathered morning glory vines, dried them, and twisted more than two dozen crowns. We identified several areas where we could responsibly forage wildflowers, which will be an important part of other activities as well. Some materials, however, cannot be harvested too early, as they would wilt or spoil before the event. I was able to thrift serving dishes and decorative items, while others in our group created handmade crafts to enhance the celebration.

Reflecting on the past several weeks, I keep returning to the imagination, focus, and presence that the garden inspires. When the outdoors is intentionally designed as a learning environment, it truly becomes another classroom. For example, during our "Coding in the Garden" workshop, I was surprised by how engaged and present I felt. Mathematics is not usually a subject that naturally captures my attention, yet learning it outdoors completely shifted my perspective. Simply discovering that math could be meaningfully taught in a garden challenged my assumptions about what learning in this space could look like. While many of our experiences were rooted in art, we also explored science, movement, and mathematics in authentic and engaging ways.

As we celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, we cannot help but reflect on how far we have come. We are incredibly grateful to Susan and the Orchard Garden for opening our eyes to what is possible, both in outdoor education and in ourselves.

By Ladan & Kat

The Preparation Begins!

 The Preparation Begins!

This Monday marks the beginning of our third week in the Orchard Garden CFE and also the designated time for planning and preparing for the upcoming events in the garden. We’re getting excited as ideas come to life and we are checking our weather forecasts with ongoing anticipation! 

This morning, the summer solstice festival team met via Zoom call to finalize the task delegation and smooth over the bumps in our plans for activities, food and beverages. Within the team, individuals claimed aspects of the grocery list, food preparation responsibilities, and activity materials. The festival begins to take shape in the form of a shared document! 

Following the group check-in, I made a journey to the garden to work on some tasks to prepare for the upcoming festival. On my walk to the garden, I stumbled upon these beautifully refurbished signs decorating the CFE garden outside Scarfe. Well done to the artists who worked away on these last week!

At the garden, my goal was to get organized for the flower pounding activity. The goal for the flower pounding station is for festival goers to explore the relationship between art, specifically print making, and the natural world! 

The preparation began by repurposing a duvet cover into small strips of fabric to be shared as the medium for our art activity. These strips of fabric are to be tied around the large decorative “wreath” created as a celebration and sign of the summer solstice. I was able to practice our prior learning about body measurement when doing the prep for this activity. Using the spacing of my hand and forearm, I was able to quickly work away at creating strips of fabric in relatively similar sizes. 

I was able to prepare over 100 fabric pieces for festival goers to explore their own flower pounding powers and participate in our collaborative wreath activity!

I wanted to create a couple of examples to test out our materials and offer guests a sneak peek at the possible outcomes. I sourced buttercups, dandelions, and other colourful garden treasures that can be harvested for flower pounding. Check out the results below!

I added some yellow scrap ribbon to add a pop of sunshine-themed colour to the wreath. Alongside the vibrant colours from the garden, I think the model flower fabrics look super cute tied on the wreath below. Now imagine the whole thing covered in tons more! 

To move towards being fully prepared for this activity, I imagined possible spots in the garden where this activity could take place. Lucky for us, this activity can be adapted and moved indoors if we are struck with inclement weather. However, in the hopes that we will be outside and with regular scheduled programming, I sketched out a chalk sign to welcome festival goers to this station! I chose to keep it simple and legible with younger guests in mind, alongside the main event: buttercup flowers!

Working alone in the garden today gave me time to reflect on the past two weeks and observe how the space has already begun to change. It was rewarding to notice the small but meaningful growth in the plants since we first started. As I reflected, I thought back to our introductions, when we each identified ourselves as elements of the climate: fog, dew, light rain, heavy rain, hummingbird, wind, sun, and more. This memory highlighted the interconnected relationship between the natural world and the ways we show up as people. Just as each element of a climate system plays a unique role in supporting the whole, each of us contributes our own strengths, perspectives, and ways of being. Together, these differences have created a collaborative cycle of learning, growth, and planning that has allowed us to move forward successfully as a community.

We are certainly excited and working hard towards a beautiful event this week! I can’t wait to see everyone's efforts come together later this week. Go solstice team!

- Jillian

Mapping in the Garden

During the learning portion of the morning, we covered the sun’s path across the sky. This was especially relevant with the summer solstice approaching soon, meaning the sun will be in the sky for the longest period of time all year in the Northern Hemisphere. Through this, we learned how our latitude on Earth affects the sun's path. To help us understand this movement at different points of the year, we did a physical activity using our bodies to trace the path of the sun.

 

We spent the rest of the morning learning more about these celestial paths from Susan, deepening our understanding of the summer and winter solstices, as well as the two equinoxes in March and September. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to practice physically acting out the pattern of the sun right in the garden.

 

To start the morning on a delicious note, Ladan made wonderful muffins for the group to enjoy as an excellent snack.

  

This is a pinhole photograph capturing the sun's path from the Orchard Garden over the course of an entire year.

 

Here is our Orchard Garden sundial, which we learned how to use to tell the time. We faced the sundial toward the north, and then had someone stand on the marking for the month of June.

 

  

The sun above us. 

 

After lunch, we worked on an activity centred around mapping the garden, which was led by Saul. We were all given paper and colouring materials, along with time to map out the space. It was fascinating to see how much everyone’s maps varied. Many people highlighted the places in the garden that meant the most to them, like specific fruit trees or a favourite meet-up spot. Some maps were quite abstract, while others were highly factual. Kat’s map uses a variety of colourful artistic techniques to beautifully capture the spirit of the Orchard Garden.

Kat’s map of the Orchard Garden.

 

It is amazing to see the fruit on the autumn olive tree starting to ripen.

 

It is also very exciting to see the carrots sprout! Jillian and Katie planted them at the beginning of our time in the garden.

 

The raspberries are continuing to ripen in clusters. Hopefully, we can make use of them for our upcoming Summer Solstice Festival.

 

Here are some of the Orchard Garden books we looked through for potential use in our festival and Saturday workshop.

 

 

By Keegan and Lu 

Rope Making with the World Around Us

As always, we began today by watering the garden before the sun got too hot. Then it was time to start our morning workshop: rope making!

Did you know rope is one of humanity’s oldest technologies? There is evidence of string making dating back to prehistoric times; approximately 28,000 years ago. (https://rope-source.co.uk/ropes/the-history-of-rope-making) So it’s very cool that we carried on this long-lasting skill by creating our own rope samples today!

How to Make Rope

Today we learned how to make rope using natural fibres like blackberry bark, day lily leaves and corn husks. The same rope-making technique can also be used with a variety of other long, flexible materials, including fabric scraps, plastic dry-cleaning bags, and English Ivy vines. Susan said she learned this technique from a local artist named Sharon Kallis, who is part of the Vancouver-based non-profit EartHand Gleaners Society. The organization is a collective of artists, makers and educators who create environmental projects using local materials. Sharon’s work can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sharonkallis/.

We used the following supplies:

• Bucket(s) half filled with water

• Dried blackberry bark

• Dried corn husks

• Dried Morning Glory (bindweed) stems

• Dried day lily leaves

Fibres used for rope making - images from left to right: day lily leaves, Morning Glory stems, corn husks and blackberry bark.

The first step of the rope-making process is to collect water and soak the dried rope-making materials in the water for 20 minutes or until the fibre is flexible.

Next, select a strand of fibre and fold it in half, creating two strands. One strand should be

slightly longer than the other. 

Then, take the strand furthest away from you with your dominant hand. Twist it away from

yourself four to five times, creating a tight coil.

Then, cross the strand in the opposite direction to the way you twisted it (towards yourself)

over the other strand and pinch (hold) the strand in place with your non-dominant hand. 

Then you will repeat the process with the other strand of fibre and continue until you have

used up all the fibre. To make the rope longer, before you finish twisting the entire length of

the fibre, take another piece of fibre (new piece) and add it into the rope by adding it to the

twist with one of the existing strands. 

As you are making the rope, it’s important to make the twists tight and keep the diagonals

on the rope close together. To do this, make sure to continue pinching the strand in your

non-dominant hand as you work. 

To finish the rope, make a simple knot at the end or tie ends to the loop at the start of the rope. 

Fun in the Sun

We are very fortunate to have enjoyed the meditative rope-making process in a peaceful and serene setting. Check out some photos of the CFE teacher candidates working on their rope samples.

Rope samples made from the following fibres (from left to right): day lily leaves, corn husks, blackberry husks and bindweed (Morning Glory) stems

I (Adena) enjoyed making rope with the day lily best. I found it the smoothest material to work with and I liked the result from the day lily more than the other samples I made with the other fibres.

Next, Alex will explain what we did for the remainder of our day:

Talking Fast Fashion, Forgotten Skills, and Hidden Costs

While waiting for our rope-making materials to soak, we discussed Sharon Kallis’ work as well as the labour-intensive process of making textiles (fabric), which quickly brought us to the topic of fast fashion. Fast fashion is the mass production of inexpensive, trendy clothes. Nowadays, acquiring clothing means: seeing something you like online or in person, and using your card to buy it. Many of us do this often and in large amounts. When we have finished wearing our clothing (sometimes only wearing a handful of times), we dispose of it. Sometimes by donating it, sometimes by just throwing it out. However, even when we do the responsible thing and donate it doesn’t mean we saved it from the trash. The market and donation bins are overflowing, and much donated clothing gets trashed, or shipped to another country to make it their problem. This is our part in fast fashion: The rapid purchasing and discarding of clothes. 

But as our activity today demonstrated, our relationship with clothing was not always this way. Until recently, clothing was something that took a lot of time and effort to make, and because of this people often kept clothing for years, even decades. Mending, simple tailoring, and repurposing of old clothes to make new ones were the common practice for centuries. However, while these skills are by no means dead, it does feel like they are starting to be practised less and less. This made us reflect on other skills that, due to the passage of time and different priorities, have been put to the side and less emphasized in schools. The first example that comes to mind is handwriting. Nowadays, printing and typing are used much more prevalently in society, so that is what we teach in schools; however, handwriting itself is still a valuable skill. It helps students practice fine motor skills and continues our collective access to historical documents.

A Song While You Work

As if today couldn’t be more idyllic, Susan brought her accordion to the garden and serenaded us with music and songs while we created our rope samples. Below is a list of the songs she played on her accordion. Some of us danced and joined Susan in singing while she played music for us. It truly was an enjoyable experience and incredibly gratifying to make something useful with our hands while listening to such sweet tunes. 

Susan and Waisail

Songs

• A Country Life

• Kettle Valley Line

• Princess Royal

• Mrs Casey’s Lament

• Fanny Power

• Applebo Ganglat

Susan serenading us with her beautiful music and voice. The ultimate example of sweet, summer vibes. What a treat!

Questions: What is music’s role in our future classrooms? Will it be used as a regulation tool? Will we bring it in to help students learn the other subjects like math, science, ELA, or socials? How does music’s presence change between primary and intermediate classrooms?

Work Party!!!

Preparation for the Saturday workshop and solstice party

We are slowly preparing for next week’s events. Kate and Megan worked on preparing the empress seed pods for painting for the Saturday workshop. Alex, Kirstin, Keegan, and Lu continued to gather morning glory for the solstice flower crowns. This time, we ventured out into the wider field and the gardens' apple trees. Kat and Sara joined in the preparation by removing the morning glory’s leaves. Last but not least, Jillian began work on what is going to be the Solstice centrepiece, a large wreath for the children to help decorate.

Garden Additions (Some Welcome, Some Not)

One of today's main gardening themes was companion plants. Companion plants are a term used in polyculture farming where certain plants are planted together because each plant benefits from the other's presence and can grow stronger. The reasons can range from pest control, one plant physically supporting the other, or the nutrients that each plant requires, and many more. The first companion added was some basil to the tomato bed. To humans, basil smells delicious, but its smell actually repels many pests that like to snack on tomatoes. The next pairing to be added was actually a trio, the three sisters: Corn, Bean, and Squash. The three sisters are a set of Indigenous companion plants. Corn, the eldest sister, is the first to grow. Her stalk then acts as a trellis for the second sister, Bean. Beans fix the amount of nitrogen in the soil. And the final Sister, Squash, spreads out her leaves and acts as a weed deterrent. The garden had started a three sisters, but as of yet none of the crops has noticeably started growing. Ladan was kind enough to stop at a nursery this morning to pick up some squash, beans, and corn to add to the bed. we are looking forward to seeing the three sisters in action and are hoping that what was planted earlier will still grow. During our visit with Dr Megan Zeni, she demonstrated how the idea of companion plants can be applied to the classroom to help students understand positive and negative friendships.

Squash, Beans and Corn on the way to the orchard garden curtesy of Ladan! So kind and thoughtful!

A non-plant addition to the garden was James’ repainted grape sign. It joins the many others we have been updating throughout this week.

 We also had some unwelcome additions in the form of weeds in our carrots and onions. Some of us spent some time back in the carrot patch to weed out our unwelcome guests to make room for the carrots and onions’ continued growth.

Carrot and Onion Garden Bed

Today was a blast! It was educational, relaxing, fulfilling and heartwarming. I can't wait to see what we get up to tomorrow.  Visit tomorrow to find out!!

By Adena and Alex