From Seed To Fruit

The forecasts had been ominous but in the end, Calgary was able to offer us another fine day to spend outside, and what better way to enjoy it than working the land again!

Looking for ladybugs!

Today’s activities centred on exploring the plant life cycle. After some very productive work de-weeding the orchard, the kids at the Sunnyside location were also quite adept at piecing together the whole narrative from the seed to the plant which flowers before finally bearing the fruit containing the seeds to start it all over again. It’s definitely a process that we overlook too often, yet it never ceases to amaze us when we contemplate how all the potentialities of a plant are contained in the seed – life’s original ‘miracle,’ that sustains all other life on this planet!

We also read a little story together that visualized this idea beautifully by illustrating the diversity of flowers and fruits carried on this Earth (who doesn’t love children’s books?!) and the kids were definitely recognizing a lot more of the plants than I was! Naturally, we finished off with a little game, this time we played magic plants. Again, I portrayed the poor farmer who has to ward away trespassers on his field who evade his attentions by ‘freezing’ into plants just when he turns around… a wonderful way to round off the fun!

Over to the Silver Springs garden, and from the close-knit village-feel of Sunnyside, we found ourselves in the wide expanses, and swooping mountain vistas of the north-western part of the city. Our plants were definitely sprouting and garden had itself a newly-crafted seating area as well. The kids harnessed their artistic talents in composing some really creative pictures that incorporated actual plant-material with colourful additions of their own which all melded nicely together on the page, I have to say! Check out this great composition from Lucian!