From the Garden

Once upon a time there was a gardener. She grew the sweetest fruit, the crunchiest carrots and exquisite blooms. This was because she knew a few secrets like how to make good compost and when to sow seeds, how to prune well and what to plant to attract bees. But the most important secret was that gardening is all about collaboration, working with the seasons, the soil, the microbes, the seeds, the ecosystems, the weather and of course, each other!

Collaboration brings so much joy. When we move out from ourselves to meet the other, to nurture, to experience, to struggle, to play, our whole being becomes involved. We experience ourselves as part of a community, a community of an ecosystem or even of a group of friends. A sense of belonging forms, we find ourselves at home.

In the garden this term we have started by working on the water project. Here we are collaborating with our dear friend Water as she journeys through our School. We are making swales and rain gardens to invite her to slow her down and planting grasses to stop her taking our topsoil away.

We are collaborating with the creek down the back by stopping runoff and weeds spreading from our School. When we work with the creek, we work with Deerubin (the Nepean River) keeping her healthy and with everyone who drinks from Warragamba dam!

We are collaborating with each other to lever the deep-rooted weeds out and to fill our wheelbarrows (sometimes with a friend who needs a ride). We are collaborating with the soil so it will soak in water and store carbon, and with the many little friends that live in the earth.

There are more opportunities for collaboration! Tuesday lunch is gardening club for any students who would like to get their hands dirty, and Garden Working Bee for Families will be on Tuesday 16^th of August after school from 3-4. Let me know if you would like to come along and lend a hand.

Collaboration is an open secret, one the gardener is always happy to share!