The Learning Garden: Where it all began

Taking EDST 588, getting involved with The Learning Garden, and doing several nature site visits has given me a new appreciation for where I currently live. I am seeing things more in the moment, and as they are. I have made a great effort to see, and describe, "What is here?" I have a renewed enthusiasm for eating and living well, and I think daily about getting out for a trip to a local spot where the natural environment is prominently featured, like a park, wood, or creek. Sometimes we do not truly appreciate where we are, and what we have. I know that, in my often harried day-to-day existence, this is the case. I do not stop and smell the roses often enough along the way. Instead of going to one of the many invigorating parks or hiking trails here in the Okanagan with the family, I stay at home instead, doing errands and watching T.V. I fail to see, and deeply enjoy, where I am. I am focused on other desires, wants that I've made into needs. Too often we are yearning for more, thinking that we need that new car, house, vacation, or a move to a different neighbourhood…when, as Wendell Berry said, "what we need is here".

And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

When many of us are so concerned with our next vacation, job, purchase, or what we have to do to "keep up with the Joneses", we forget that what is around us – the beauty and abundance of our natural environment – is all that we really need. If we simply allow ourselves to be immersed in nature, spending quiet, quality time in our "here", we will find what we need. We will find beauty, meaning, shelter, food, recreation...the possibilities are numerous. We could focus on the scads of human refuse scattered recklessly in our woods and trails; we could grumble at the graffiti on signs and trees; we could choose to harp on the damage human-caused fires have done, or the constant noise of construction that invades the Learning Garden. These issues are important to think about; however, if we truly wish to gain appreciation for where we live and play, we need to block out these negative forces, and, as Berry suggests, be clear in eye and "quiet in heart". Then we'll be transformed, leaving our careless consumption of global products and desires behind for a more thoughtful local approach and appreciation for what is here. As the slogan on the David Suzuki Foundation web site says, "Solutions are in our nature". This quotation truly captures what I have been slowly learning about over the last several years, and especially so after having taken Enviro Ed 588:that solutions can be found in nature, or the natural world; and solutions are in our nature, meaning it is part of human nature to seek solutions to problems. I think this quote urges us to really think, or re-think, how we view our relationship with nature.

Our nature site visits, our field notes, and our sharing allowed me to open my mind, heart, and soul to nature and my place as a part of nature's interconnected system. We discussed what we saw, smelled, heard, tasted, felt, andthought as a group. It was amazing to note that, thought we all visited the same sites each day, no two people's notes were even remotely alike – yet we all observed something positive about our time immersed in the natural world.

Being a part of The Learning Garden has made me realize a few things about my teaching, my learning, and my lifestyle. First of all, working as a group of equals who made decisions together made me reflect on how I teach. Typically, it's in a situation where I maintain high levels of control and my students create mostly individual products to be assessed by me to determine if they learned particular outcomes. While sometimes this is necessary, it is not always the best, or the most enjoyable, way to teach and learn, as it is very restrictive, controlled, and solitary. Furthermore, I came to realize that the teaching and learning that I and my students do is more often than not separate from the natural world - yet it need (and should) not be. As Orr (1999) said in his essay What is Education For?, "By what is included or excluded we teach students that they are part of or apart from the natural world." My mission is to include the natural world in the lessons and units I teach. Orr also aptly stated that "Indoor classes create the illusion that learning only occurs inside four walls", a notion which could not be further from the truth. We learn wherever we are, and taking classes outdoors as part of EE 588 was extraordinary and beneficial. I gained immense pleasure, enjoyment, insight, relaxation, and fulfillment during my time spent learning outside, whether it was digging in the garden, climbing up steep, arid hills, or sitting quietly in a wooded thicket, writing, and later sharing, our thoughts and observations. I now realize that learning is not about the place; it is more about a state of mind and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all things in the world.

Throughout the EE course, Dr. Gaylie chose to guide rather than direct, inviting us to have input into the direction the class took. We discussed and agreed upon everything, including our daily work in the garden, our nature site visits, and our "legacy" we wanted to leave behind. It was an extremely refreshing experience to have a teacher, a PROFESSOR, give us choice in what we learned and worked on. I will certainly take this cooperative teaching and learning experience with me as I continue to grow as an educator. We all contributed to projects, such as building birdhouses, that would not have been possible for several of us had we set out as individuals. Knowledge, confidence, the right tools...all of these potential obstacles were overcome as a group. We learned together, as a whole unit. Now I more clearly see that the teaching and learning process happens in a community, rather than as individuals, and I will use this small-group model with my students.

As far as my lifestyle? Well, though I have a house with landscaping that my wife, parents and I worked on, we do not currently have a garden. We enjoy working outside and getting our hands into the cool, crumbly earth; however, we landscaped the small area that was for a brief time our garden. It wasn't well-lit or very expansive, true, but we simply felt it wasn't worth the time and effort to maintain. Now that we have two young girls, our thoughts have changed yet again. We can see the myriad benefits: physical exercise, a spiritual connection with the land, fresh, nutritious food to eat, and, of course the family bonding and learning together that occurs when working on a garden. We' re also looking at taking some baby steps towards reducting our footprint on the earth. I found some great "beginners" tips here on the Suzuki Foundation site.

Next year, we're planting a garden. It might be just a few planters, but after seeing the excitement in my 2-year-old daughter's eyes when she got to water "her" strawberry plant at her Nana & Papa's, I am convinced - it's time to plant a garden. Here. After all, what is here is the sun, the earth, seeds, water, our hands, hope, love, learning, sharing, and each other, and those are the things that make a garden grow.

Site Visit #4: Bertram Regional Park

Bertram Regional Park is situated right next to Okanagan Mountain Park, which was badly scorched by wildfires in 2003. Bertram was partially damaged; however, as is evident from the photos, it still retains its green beauty. I wrote in my field journal this day about how my favourite place, a family retreat in the East Kootenays, is a place of healing and rejuvenation. Bertram Park has this same quality: though considerable forest, as well as some man-made shelter and seating, was destroyed by the 2003 firestorm, the community worked together and bounced back. Now there is a new picnic area, and the burnt-out area is showing signs of renewal.

"For almost every example of how technologies have allowed humans to gain control of nature and society, we can think of counter-examples..." (Slack & Wise, 2007). A local example of this is how Kelowna, and the entire province of British Columbia, has been affected by forest fires. Before the fires of 2003 and now 2009, many of us did not even fathom the possibility of such danger and devasation, despite the fact that we live in a tinder-dry region. Most of us naively assumed that any fire flare-up would be no match for our current fire-fighting technologies, such as the mighty planes, helicopters, and chemical fire retardants. Thus, many of us continued to create campfires in the bush and toss our cigarette butts out the window with reckless abandon, despite fire warnings, highway signs, fines, and bans indicating otherwise. The occurence of the fires this summer has really made me reflect on where we as humans have chosen to live. In many cases, we have chosen to live in areas that pose a real danger to us, whether it is living in a known earthquake belt like the Pacific Coast, near volcanoes, as in Hawaii or Papa New Guinea or in arid, hot regions such as the Okanagan. While there are many benefits to living in these environments, there are also many risks which we must accept and live with if we choose to call these places home. It would be irresponsible to ignore the very real danger of our environment. I am in no way suggesting our environment is something to be feared; rather, I am stating that we cannot pretend that there is no risk in living in, say, the Okanagan. That being said, too much emphasis on safety is dull - we need to appreciate the many joys and benefits of our environment. For example, the Okanagan's climate allows grapes, cherries, peaches, apples, pears, and much more to flourish, and we can all appreciate how wonderful it is to bite into a succulent peach or sip a magnificent Merlot that came from just across town!
Some burnt, blackened tree stumps.
A withered tree that has been battered by fire but still remains standing.
This picture may look idyllic, with a path meandering through a stand of trees; however, just beyond the trees is a massive section of forest that was ravaged by fire. Hundreds of black trees, mere sticks of charcoal, stand on barren ground that is just starting to regrow.
This little cluster of Oregon grape, grass, and pinecones looked so perfectly arranged, I had to take a picture. The Oregon grape, with its shiny leaves and blue berries, is incredible. It withstands drought very well, apparently, and its berries have been used by various aboriginal peoples as food and in medicine.

As an aside: Using native, drought-resistant plants in the yard surrounding my home is appealing to me. We can plant species that require fewer resources, do not choke out other native plants, and save some money in the process. Further inquiry into what is known as "xeriscaping" is needed before we make the switch.