A Photo Tour:

Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s

School Garden Conference: Beyond Education

The Massachusetts Horticulture’s School Garden Conference was held on Thursday, February 23, 2017, at the beautiful Elm Bank Horticultural Center in Wellesley, Ma. The focus of the conference was on best practices for the region for planning and running a school garden.

I got there early and was able to take a beautiful walk around the gardens. Weezie’s Garden for Children was especially wonderful in the melting snow. I was delighted to be taking my own self-guided tour.

WEEZIE’S GARDEN FOR CHILDREN

  I loved the Garden Shed and Bird Sanctuary!

 The large structures are magnificent and the use of natural materials is brilliant.

A place for teaching and learning outdoors!

I found a bit of whimsy everywhere!

The Conference kicked off with a Keynote address from Jane Hirschi, Director of CitySprouts. She spoke about the history of School Gardens and their impact. She set the tone for a fun filled day of celebrating our work with reconnecting children and schools to gardens and nature.

Check out the seed library!

There were numerous workshops that were bite-sized, one-hour and what I call “seeds of inspiration.” I spoke to a roomful of Natural Teachers and shared my workshop called 5 Steps to Creating Outdoor Spaces for Diverse Learners. The energy in the room was fabulous. The enthusiasm was infectious and left me recharged for the new Spring season! Woot! Woot!

I also attended several workshops. I mostly enjoyed simply listening and learning about all the garden stories from such a variety of programs and hope to capture some of them and share them in future posts.

    At the end of the day, I even got the make my own worm compost bin! A great day!

A big thank you to the MA Horticultural Society for such a great conference. I was delighted to be part of it. It was a great day to meet so many like-minded teachers, parents, gardeners and community change agents.

When I walked out the YMCA this morning after my swim, I noticed this quote on the white board and smiled.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

Now I want to hear from you. What is happening in your community?

Onward!

Victoria