CFE: UBC Botanical Garden

This post is written by two authors, Natasha Pappas and Natalie Moon. We spent our morning at the UBC Botanical Garden and the afternoon in the UBC Orchard Garden. Natasha writes of our day as a whole and I have added my reflection on the Botanical Garden's Treetop Walk that I was able to explore. Here are our reflections...

Natasha Pappas’ Reflection:

We began the day by exploring the UBC Botanical Gardens. Despite the fact that I have been going to UBC for about 7 years now, it was my first time there. I had no idea how big it was. Susan told us to consider the different types of gardens (e.g. the Orchard Garden, Nitobe, the guerilla garden, and botanical gardens) and how they compare and reflect  \different values. She explained that botanical gardens are a bit like a museum, as part of its purpose is to host and display a wide variety of plants often from all over the world. It was fascinating to see such a wide variety of plants, and often ones that I never knew existed. I have been thinking a lot lately about how our values and priorities are reflected in the way that we garden,

Our CFE group then split up. Half our group went to do the treetop tour, while the rest of us made our way to the medicinal garden. We went through the Garry Oak path and through the Food Garden before arriving at the medicinal garden. The Garry Oaks are the only native oak tree to the area. One sign said that First Nations groups used to cultivate them because they are fire resistant. 

The Food Garden was beautiful. I found it really cool and interesting that the food grown there is given to the homeless and people in need. I would be interested in volunteering there and seeing just how that system works, specifically how the garden connects to those in need and its effects.

We finished off the day with a work party in the Orchard Garden. Several of us focused on two tasks in the food forest: chopping and dropping the seemingly dead evening primrose and pulling out/cutting back the morning glory. It took us until the end of the day, because the morning glory is everywhere! We also had a really interesting conversation on the philosophy of invasive species and what makes a weed a weed. There seems to be a debate on how we should think about invasive species that I was unaware of until today. Should invasive plants be completely removed from an area, or should they be left and maintained? I want to do more research on this topic.

Natalie Moon's Reflection:

Something I was able to experience today was the Treetop Walk at the UBC Botanical Garden. I was greeted by Ian, who discussed the importance of trees in our fragile ecosystem. He explained that trees are part of an intricate ecosystem. This ecosystem needs old growth forests to resist wildfires and support other plant, animal, and human life. 

The Treetop walk was absolutely amazing! It is heart pounding at times, as you are suspended up in the air, with the trees, overtop of the forest. Jason, Jeff and I were very impressed by the system of cables that are used to suspend the walkways and platforms. We were fascinated at how this cable system could be brought into a physics classroom. Jason spoke to the tension on the cables and how the system becomes stronger as more people step onto the platform and the tension on the cables increases. 

It was truly an awe-inspiring experience as I wobbled above the trees, suspended in the air. My feet felt unsteady underneath me but I didn't feel unsafe or scared. I felt a sense of freedom. I was above the garden, at one with the trees, and taking in the forest floor far below. 

The Treetop walk is a must-do if you're at UBC, 10/10! 

CFE Day 5: "Singing in the Garden", Wood Chip Pathways

 Today, we invited soon-to-be Dr. Diana Ihnatovych (who had successfully defended her Ph.D dissertation yesterday!) to share her research and findings about the effect of music, particular singing, in the garden.

Our first TV during the Orchard garden CFE

The dark, windowless room we were in was a stark contrast from the weather-variable open nature we were used to in the gardens. Nonetheless, Diana's talk offered great insight on the positive effect that music and improvisation had on fostering a deeper connection and a sense of agency between students and nature. We were reminded of how much we unconsciously use music as memorization tools, as well as effective aids for learning. Oh, can't forget our first in-person interaction with our CFE FA, Dr. Terry Jarvis!

After the presentation, we moved to the forest area just outside the Nitobe Garden, where Diana introduced us to a quick engagement activity using large sticks. The crew proudly holding their sticks was a must-watch scene!

Just some TCs with their sticks, what more can I say?

The activity itself resembled a "Simon says" style of playing, while demanding concentration and reflex control. I think I ended up cutting my finger a few times trying to grab awkward parts of the stick, but oh well, quite personal connection to nature I guess 😅. We also did some Soundscape activities, where participants must focus on the sounds around them, trying to draw them out and even act them! It was a great way to get all of our senses (not just sight) involved in interpreting the local environment (this is a Science Curricular Competency), with many connections to all subjects of learning.

We also started and ended our time outside with an improvisation song that acts as an ode of gratitude to the environment around us. It was a nice way to focus on the small things that contributed to such a positive environment and experience.

Soundscape composition by Bill, Danielle, Natasha, Jason

Soundscape composition by Susan, Saul, Jeff, Natalie

After a nice and warm Mercante excursion for lunch, we returned to the Orchard garden to work on creating a formal pathway with wood chips. After many ripped cardboard boxes and 6 wheelbarrows of wood chips, we were able to finish the pathways! Having these formally laid out added so much more structure and aesthetic pleasure to the garden, and it only took us 45-ish minutes to complete! 

What happens when you forget to take a "before" image

While it could be interpreted as manual labour, it provided a good lesson for me in just how much nature provides for us. Even the wood chips were at one point many trees, as well as the cardboard boxes we used. It might not be a perfect example of returning what we took back to the land, but it reminded me once again about the continuous cycle of life and how everything still returns to its original belonging in one way or another.

CFE Day 4: The Hugel, Nature Mandalas, and Micro-photography

Today, we started off with our garden work party in the morning, collectively tackling the objective of building a hügelkultur, or simply a hugel, with one of the plum trees that had been cut down, after being infected by black knot fungus. As we learned from Saul, the hugel is a resourceful method of creating a raised garden bed in the form of a crescent-shaped (or croissant-shaped) mound. It is constructed by layering the infected wood with a mix of other organic materials, such as grass clippings, wood shavings, leaves, and weeds.

First, we dug out the crescent-shaped pit roughly in the same area where the tree once stood. We then strategically arranged and layered the wood in the pit from the largest to smallest pieces, filling in as many of the gaps as possible.

 

After we layered the various parts of the tree, we began to add other organic materials to our "hugel lasagna", starting with wood shavings and chips. We then alternated between drier and fresher/greener layers of foraged grass, weeds, and leaves, as shown in the white buckets.

 

The final steps involved covering the mound with the topsoil from the initial digging of the pit, feeding it a generous amount of water, and then creating a loose border with some branches. Reflecting on the process of building the hugel, it truly felt as though we were creating a "burial site" of sorts for the diseased tree, yet it also felt poetic that the structure will eventually become the foundation for new life, demonstrating that natural cycle of life within a garden.

During our lunch break, we took a quick group walk over to Bean Around the World for some coffee and, naturally, explored the UNA Children's Garden next to the cafe. One detail that stood out to was the inclusion of an easy visual guide for visitors that classified "good" vs. "bad" bugs, inviting people of all ages to spot the different critters that live within the garden, though I'm sure these broad categorizations also leave room for more nuance.

In the afternoon, we got the opportunity to try a few art integration activities, created by Dustin Garnet, within the garden that allowed us to engage and connect with it in different ways. The first activity was to build nature mandalas as a form of ephemeral art, inspired by the land art style. We each collected a variety of materials around the garden and explored ways to build radial designs that incorporated different elements of symmetry, colors, patterns, and textures. Susan had a great idea as well to lay our nature mandalas on our newly built hugel, which seemed to beautifully honor its creation. It was inspiring to see everyone's creative approach in their mandalas, even in the different shapes and angles that were chosen! At the end of the activity, the wind started to pick up as the sun shifted more behind the clouds, blowing some parts of our nature mandalas away. This truly reflected the impermanence that land art can embody, where things are not made to last but rather break down or return to its natural origins.

 

The second art integration activity was in the form of garden micro-photography and framing, which encouraged us to slow down and focus in on viewpoints that are often overlooked or not yet explored. This process not only creates a deeper sense of connection and observation within the garden, but also integrates creative expression with different visual framings. And if not for anything else, it's a great way for learners to use their phones in a productive, educational and highly intentional way.

As a little bonus shot, we also spotted a butterfly in the garden near the end of the day, which looked very similar to the Gorgone Checkerspot butterfly: 

After this eventful day, I'm inspired by the many ways that we can spark connection, engagement, and purpose within a learning garden! After building the hugel and listening to the tree's long journey of resilience (dating back to around 2014!) against the black knot fungus before it finally had to be cut down, it made me appreciate the long-lasting impact of all the various "hands" that have contributed to the garden. By setting the foundation of the hugel and the other areas we have tended to, it feels like we have become a small part of the garden in some ways. In its implications for teaching, I think that this sense of building a new path forward within a garden can be incredibly powerful for students, seeing themselves not only as keepers of its history, but makers of its future too. Art integration activities can contribute to this sense too, providing new perspectives, mediums, and interpretations of the diverse and ever-evolving life that exists within the garden.

CFE Day 3

 
Walking Counter Clockwise Around Nitobe Garden

Today we went to the Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC.  It is best to walk around the garden in a counter clockwise direction.  If you do, then you walk the path of your entire life.   First, you awaken to a new world – you enter the garden through the Nitobe Memorial Gate.  Close to the entrance, and the beginning of your life, you encounter a large concrete lantern which, which as your father, guides you to two possible paths of early childhood.  The first leads you on level ground, is easy to navigate, and smoothly delivers you from infancy to childhood.  The second path is steep; requires you pay careful attention to stepping stones, and passes by a waterfall.  Being the adventurous types, we teacher candidates took the latter of the two paths.  I am happy to tell you that we all made it to the later part of childhood: a strait path where mother (another lantern) stands at a close, but not too close, distance.  She stands right across the water with a nurturing aura unlike father who towered above you handing you your fate in the form of both zodiac and lotus flower.

Next, the garden gives you another choice moment that defines the rest of your adulthood up until you arrive at the reflective stage of life: the tea house (old age).  The choice moment in adulthood is as follows: you either get married to young, or you wait until the right moment when you are a little older.  Importantly, a strait bridge symbolizes the poor choice of getting married too young.  On the other hand, the zigzag bridge is the bridge of the wise who marry slightly older.  Here are two noteworthy reflections about these bridges:  First, demons travel in strait lines and so can follow you over the bridge built for the foolish (and too young).  Second, the fool’s bridge delivers a quicker root to the end of your life – the tea house.  In contrast, the wise bridge presents the opposite: a zig zag bridge across which demons can not travel, and a long path to the end of your life.   I took the symbolism here to mean that the walk over the zig zag bridge is a path of purification that leads you to a long life, and as a result, more to reflect on at the tea house which provides a serene place for your final contemplation.  The strait bridge may symbolize the opposite interpretation, however the teas house is no less serene – life Afterall does have a forgiving side.  

Everything in the garden- father and mother, a dangerous encounter with a waterfall, sculpturesque maples, seemingly glowing moss, rocks which stand unnaturally upright, a serene gazebo, the tea house and even the coy fish seamed intentionally sculpted and placed.  So too my attention felt equally meticulously called to both contemplative emersion in the garden and to an awe of the natural elements.  I felt as if I could be in a space alone with any single garden feature I came across  and then in the next moment seamlessly widen my attention to take in the entire composition as if in front of a landscape painting.  Maybe, the parabolic walk around Nitobe Garden not only presents us with the story of our life’s pivotal architypes and fundamental dilemmas but also acts as a teacher who guides us in the art of paying attention to our lives: be intimately close to each sacred personal moment while taking in the larger painting of which we are only a small part.  Oh ya, and make sure to stop once in a while for some tea; sit back as if you were at the end of your life, and you had chosen the wise path.    

Ted Aoki's lovely short article about bridges & the Nitobe Garden

 Hi everyone. Here's the link I mentioned today when we were in Nitobe Garden near the zigzag bridge and the irises about to bloom: Ted Aoki (1991), Bridges that rim the Pacific

CFE Day 2

 Tuesday May 12 - Weather - Sunny 

We started the day at the front steps of the Scarfe building to begin our garden ecopoetry tour. After Susan explained ecopoetry and sketch-poerty, we began our walk. 

Our first stop was in front of Scarfe. Susan explained that there was an effort to turn the area with the benches into a garden. There were illustrations and even a 3D model, but the dean said no. The reason was that a garden would look too messy and it may affect the opinion of visiting parents of potential students.
The idea of calling a garden messy stuck with me. While I can understand where that is coming from, I would never call nature messy. I think it is really telling to use that word in that way. Telling of their priorities and their perspective of nature and the land. A better word to use might be organic, but not messy. 

We had time to sketch and write poetry about this space, and then we continued on the tour. 

Our next stop was the whale skeleton and the courtyard behind it. Once again, Susan explained how there were efforts to turn the grassy plot of land into the Orchard Garden, but there were already plans. Despite the grass lawn, different parties advocated for biodiversity in the courtyard. Susan told a story of when she was growing up in Hamilton and she would often see shells in the dirt. She explained that shells would eventually get mixed in with the cement. I thought this was interesting because I had been thinking that cement is very different from nature. I wonder if that is the right way to think about it. 

Here I sketched the whale skeleton with the garden overlaid on it. 

Our second to last stop was the guerrilla permaculture garden. Susan explained the story behind it. It was really cool to learn about permaculture and the idea of letting things happen naturally and going with the flow. I found there to be an interesting message there about control. Who gets a say on how a plot of land is used? Why should a fee be paid for encouraging plants to grow? I drew a sketch about it and wrote a comment.

 

 

 We ended the day with gardening! I planted lettuce in the greenhouse with Saul, and then we all collected comfrey to turn into fertilizer. I’m excited to see the results!

I feel even more motivated to teach my students about gardening and especially permaculture. Something tells me that the stories Susan told of how it can be difficult to work with UBC to create gardens rings true of public schools as well. There is a message of power here that I believe can be easily tied to social studies. Who determines what the spaces we live in look like? How much control does an average person have over their environment? Should people have more power in influencing their environment? There are many interesting ways to tie this into my lessons.

CFE Day 1

 

Day one of our community field experience was a day of slowing down, getting to know each other, and acquainting ourselves with the garden. We were serenaded by Susan played the melodian and we clumsily tried to keep up with her singing “country song”. We strolled through the food garden and explored the plants hiding under the field of buttercups. The field of yellow is a gorgeous sight to take in as spring is in full swing in the garden. We rubbed the leaves of a lemon balm to release the gorgeous citrusy smell. Morning glory will be a job for another day. 

Taking a moment in the plant tour we ogled after an eagle and watched our heads with the hummingbirds flitting around. Susan introduced us to the Merlin Bird app which enabled us to understand which bird calls we were hearing. 

Lunch was full of more acquainting ourselves with our CFE team for the next three weeks and sharing lunch in the sunshine. We established that an afternoon stretch club will be absolutely necessary with all this hard work. 

The afternoon was a dream for the organizationally inclined as we cleaned out the garden shed. It is ready for summer and so are we!