All the Dirt on Who We Are!
2008 Newsletter
No Child Left Inside: An Overview
Programs at the Discovery Garden are designed to provide an alternative, outdoor education activity for children. Harvard education professor Pedro Noguera said, 'children that are having fun are more likely to be ready to learn. A rich and varied learning environment connected to caring adults makes learning fun. Students that are excited and engaged are more likely to learn.' We couldn't agree more. That is why we place such a high emphasis on placebased learning.
Programs at the Discovery Garden are designed to allow kids to experience an activity, share their results, process the information, generalize their experience to realworld examples, and apply what was learned to different situations.
The staff and volunteers at the Discovery Garden are flexible, dependable, and knowledgeable. They work with State Curriculum standards, scout badge requirements, or other guidelines that are requested OR simply work with topic suggestions from each group.
The best part is, all programs are 100% free for the school and youth groups!! The Discovery Garden is run with the help of numerous donations, grants, and volunteers.
Groups without transportation to/from the garden can even apply for a transportation scholarship, paid for by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Deadline is January of each year.
Activity Themes for On-site Experiences
For most events at the Discovery Garden, teachers and youth group leaders choose one theme and at least two topics relating to that theme. Examples:
Grocery Bag Botany
Topics covered: the basic parts of a plant,
which parts of a plant are used for food,
other uses for plant parts, and basic plant
needs.
Life of a Seed
Topics covered: various methods of seed
travel, the life cycle of a seed, seed survival
rates, and what seeds need to grow.
Garden Patrol
Topics covered: 'good' and 'bad' garden
wildlife, garden diseases, organic pest/
disease control methods, and bioaccumulation.
Glorious Dirt
Topics covered: erosion, decomposition,
composting, soil classifications, and protecting
the soil.
Water Planet
Topics covered: water cycles, how plants
drink, our dependence on water, and
daily human water consumption.
Handicapped Enabled Raised Bed
The Children's Discovery Garden volunteers
have built a raised garden bed, to make the
garden more accessible for people in wheelchairs
and others who may have limited
mobility and find it difficult to garden at
ground level. This component will give elderly
garden mentors more opportunities,
too.
Creating an enabling garden for the physically challenged, accompanied by special educational programming to help them learn garden techniques that will work for them, is a goal the Community Cultivators have worked towards because this garden can provide everyone a place of learning, healing and reflection, while providing an opportunity for individuals to reflect upon what they can do and enabling them to actually do it.
Family Garden Adopt-A-Plot Program
The Discovery Garden is now offering a new program to engage families: the Family Garden Adopt- A-Plot program is open to area families with children. Families can adopt a garden plot for the season, free of charge. With this 6ft x 10ft plot, participants have the opportunity to plant, tend, and harvest their own organic crops.
Lisa Reid, Family Garden Project Coordinator, believes this program is 'a great way for families to spend time together doing something fun and educational, with the added bonus of getting some really good tomatoes.' Lisa also sees the program as an excellent resource to those who home school.
For more information, or to apply for one of the limited plots, call Christine at 618.374.9974.
Annual Potato Harvests Are A Smash!
The First Annual Potato Harvest in June went over so well, the Community Cultivators decided to have a second one later in the fall! Volunteers helped the public dig up the Kennebec, Red Norland, and Purple potatoes. Some participants claimed it was as much fun as hunting Easter Eggs! Besides digging potatoes, other events included potato sack races, potato printing, solar-oven cooked potatoes, and prizes for the most unusual potatoes found.
Many potatoes that you find in grocery stores are LAST year's harvest that were brought here from hundreds of miles away. Most people are amazed by the flavor and texture of fresh, organic, locally-grown potatoes.
Participants were able to take some potatoes home with them; the rest of the harvest was donated to the Alton Crisis Food Center or given away at the Farmer's Market in exchange for a small donation.
Newsletter as PDF
The Community
Cultivators is a nonprofit
corporation
that oversees the
Discovery Garden in
La Vista Park,
located at 2421 W.
Delmar in Godfrey,
Illinois.
The Community
Cultivators have a 7-
member Board of
Directors and meet
the first Monday of
each month.
- Basic Organics Workshop
- Herb Gardening
- Native Plants
- Soil Erosion and buffer zonesin farming and gardening
- Backyard wildlife
- Winterization of Gardens
- Healthier Gardens
- Wild Edibles Workshop
- Wild Medicinals Workshop
