Organic Garden Dream
Website : http://organic.garden.free.fr
About the project
Organic Garden Dream Europe is the European version of the global
project Organic Garden Dream created in 2008 by Cindea Hung, Kaohsiung,
Taiwan.
Organic Garden Dream Europe is the extension of the 2009-2013 eTwinning project : “Save the World, Save the Garden”
The
project “Organic Garden Dream” won the Global Junior Challenge Award in
the category ICT for Environmental Sustainability in Rome October 2012.
Aims
Gardening and plant-based learning open a door to discovery of
the living world. It stimulates even as it focuses and calms. Within the
school environment, a garden offers an unparalleled platform to help
kids achieve learning goals .
A School Garden requires a child's
intellectual, emotional and social engagement with things that must be
measured, counted, weighed, arranged, planned and cared for.
Work process
1- Research & Preparation
-Establish our vision and set our educational goals
-Conduct the needs and site assessments
-Recruit the garden team
2-Design
-Develop
a good base map that shows the dimensions and existing conditions of
the garden site. A base map is the point from which we are starting, or
the original site.
-Use our needs and site analysis information
to generate a bubble diagram. A bubble diagram consists of simple
circles drawn on a piece of tracing paper that lays on top of our base
map. Bubble diagrams help define where the various garden features and
area would be located.
-Use the bubble diagram to generate a more refined plan of the garden.
-Get students involved at this phase so they truly feel a sense of ownership.
-Consult with an experienced, reputable contractor about construction methods.
-Research the local landscape materials supplier about costs and specifications.
3-Implementation
-Coordinate
soil removal, soil preparation, heavy construction, and carpentry tasks
through a landscape contractor, or possibly through experienced
parents.
-Involve children whenever possible, even with heavier tasks like moving compost and mulch.
-Have the children install the plants, with the exception of large trees.
4-Maintenance
-Be
creative about addressing follow-up care. Kids will happily weed if the
task is proposed as a search and destroy mission for the “weed of the
week.” Show everyone the weed of the week and have students see how many
they can find.
-Have a regular schedule for maintenance, preferably twice a week, and clearly post the tasks to be done each time.
-Let
students help develop a task list. They usually know what needs to be
done, and will be more empowered to do the tasks than if they are just
told what to do.
-Keep the maintenance slots at set times so
volunteers know when they can stop by the garden to help, even if they
didn’t sign up.
-Promote the times in a newsletter or in flyers around the neighborhood.
-Make sure maintenance volunteers have access to the right tools for the job, including water.
Expected results
-Don’t worry about moving plants to more amenable conditions elsewhere in the garden, or trying new varieties of fruits and vegetables that have better disease resistance.
-Survey the teachers and students; ask what they liked and didn’t like about the garden; discuss the results with the garden team and be open to changes that will help the garden function for the entire school.
Sustainability
-Continue to encourage use of the school garden to the faculty, even if we think they should “know about it by now.” It may not be on the forefront of their minds, or they may be beginning a new unit that has natural connections to the garden that they may not have thought through.
Communication
-Presentations reports are sent to the coordinator of the global project : Organic Garden Dream in Taiwan (Mrs Cindea Hung)
-Teachers and students present thos reports on line, during videoconferences.
-The Taiwan team is in charge of editing the video of the videoconference
-The French team is in charge of the website http://organic.garden.free.fr/
