By “Mack Farmer” Sarah Rudeen

Paper-thin pumpkin vines crumble into prickly dust. Calendula seeds curl and stick to whomever brushes past. Sunflower heads nod. It’s early October, and the Mack Boulder Garden is certainly reflecting the onset of autumn—but that doesn’t mean that students’ engagement is wilting with the foliage. Our first harvest season has provided a bounty of nutritious and tasty fruits and vegetables as well as a wealth of community bonding and learning opportunities.

As a “buddy class” activity, the first-graders and fifth-graders met up in the garden on the first Friday of the year. Together they sought out the ripest fruits and chatted about summer adventures. The first-graders asked for more after they each selected a vegetable to take home to share with their families.

Kindergarteners visited in the second week of school to harvest oddly-shaped-yet-tasty carrots, sun-sweet cherry tomatoes, and lemon cucumbers that barely fit in their hands. Thunder kept us inside during their second harvest attempt, but students were delighted to touch and smell eight different veggies and freshly-picked herbs from the garden just steps outside their classroom.

First-graders investigated seed dispersal strategies as they peered through hand lenses and drew sketches of seeds from various plants found in the garden. They noted that vegetable seeds were surrounded by juicy flesh for animals to munch on (which results in the seeds being distributed far and wide), while milkweed seeds drifted across tables as students experimented with how they float on the wind.The second and third grade classes harvested late-summer green beans along with bell peppers, lemon cucumbers, carrots, basil, and nasturtium flowers. “Delicious!” was the consensus. Second-graders then put the mapping skills they learned in social studies to the test as they hunted for plants using a coordinate plane. 

The fourth-graders harvested the last of the carrots, peppers, cucumbers, basil, and nasturtium. Nary a basil leaf was left on the three community plates shared among the students. The artfully arranged samples were devoured in minutes, and students were sad to hear that the garden is nearly done for the year. 

Interspersed between homeroom activities, students will catch me at recess or AfterCare to ask what’s growing, what’s ready to eat, and if I’ve seen the resident baby bunny (thankfully not often). Dried marigold flowers will be placed on an altar in the Spanish room for Dia de los Muertos. A pint jar is nearly filled with dried chamomile for tea to be drunk during Writer’s Workshops. 

As we head into the colder months, the garden will be put to bed. Horticultural activities will continue on campus, however. Soil tests will help us plan amendments to add before spring. Students will design and build a new composting system in a Friday Exploration class. A hanging garden along a window-lined hallway is in the planning stages for a “guess that plant” activity. 

The luscious heirloom tomatoes might be but a memory, but the excitement about the Mack Garden won’t fade anytime soon. 

Want to see more from the summer and future garden updates? Follow the Mack Boulder Garden on Instagram: @mackbouldergarden