Summer Gardening at Slate School

By Grace Kenney, Environmentalist

The children dreamed up a garden. They planned and planted, selected and sowed, watered and waited. And then, sprouts reached for the sun and roots took hold! The Slate School garden that we saw on the last day of school in June - full of young plants, light green and unfurling - was quite different from the mature garden we returned to on the first day of school this September. The bright rays of the July sun and the quenching rains of August were not alone in tending to the garden; we must also give thanks to the many families who volunteered their time over the summer to weed, water, harvest, and play. Their presence is what made the garden full of life. 

One of the best parts of summer is coming to visit the garden and seeing what has changed. A new sunflower blooming! The first ripening tomato. A curling tendril of a pea plant finally reaching the highest rug of its bamboo trellis. Don’t even get me started on the surprise “Compost Pumpkins” whose vines sprawled across the grass and climbed up and along the garden fence! Sure, the plants themselves are experiencing tremendous and exciting growth. But the thrill at noticing new geologic features in the Dig Bed, muffin tins left out with traces of the latest mud pie recipe, and the sudden absence of the striped zucchini that had been there only days before is just as wonderful. These things are evidence that the garden, which is for the children and families of Slate School, is fulfilling its promise. Even if our paths don’t cross in person, traces of the people who have spent time there can be found if you look closely. 

Less subtle are the entries made in the Garden Logbook, a written record of who was there, what the conditions were like, what chores were done, and often something beautiful or interesting that they encountered. Like letters to the people who came before and who will come after, these sweet entries take on a different tone from the prior pages of succinct notes keeping track of which classes planted what. Discoveries like, “I found out there are such things as purple BEANS!” and “Bird spotted in Piney Woods - don’t know what type” fill the pages. Families sometimes share about a meal they made with the harvest from the garden, like a green bean stir-fry or a salad with lettuce and tomatoes. This inspired the beginning of a Slate School recipe collection that can be made with ingredients gathered from the garden, which we hope will continue to grow over time. 

One of the original purposes of the garden was for the children to have a link to their school during the summer months. It also provides a communal space for returning families to connect with incoming families and help to make them feel welcome and included. Comments written by children in the log about meeting new friends or enthusiastic emails between parents about meeting up for the first time in the garden are visible threads of how a community develops. The garden yields so much more than vegetables. As the harvest begins to wind down as we head into the fall, we are so grateful for everyone who helped tend the garden along the way. The exciting discoveries, connection to nature, new friendships, and expanding community will not slow down - they'll just keep growing.