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