A garden waiting to be planted,
A class ready to learn
The basics about gardening.

First draw a scaled drawing
Of the garden
On squared paper.

Then divide the garden into rows,
And discuss the best place
To plant different vegetables.


An early morning walk to the garden,
Followed by weeding,
Then set up a string line,
Before digging a shallow trench.
Next water the soil
Ready for planting.


Plant, cover and water
Pole beans,
Potatoes,
Bush beans,
Carrots,
Lettuce and spinach,
Onions and garlic,
Beets,
Radishes,
Squash and pumpkin,
Peas,
Sweet peas.

Scatter dill seeds.........

Then wait..........

Many of us saw the baby geese
For the first time today.
We also stopped to watch
One, two, three red-winged blackbirds
Chase away a crow.
We guessed
It got too close to the nest.


The thing I remember about the dipnetting is I found two shells. One was black and the other one was white.

All the "Cools",
"Ewwws",
"Wickeds".
But I was with my partners,
Avery and Owen.
What a fun day.
Hannah


I really liked dipnetting. I caught lots of shrimp. I also caught a boatman and a baby beetle.
Alexis

A water mite kind of looks like a spider.
Owen

We are at Elizabeth Lake.
We just went dipnetting.
It was fun.
Me and my friend, Jaden, got lots.
We added them together,
And a girl in my class too.
It was like a colour explosion.
Alec


Cool hand goes in the water
As the cattails move safely
In the wind.
Now it's time to go.
I had fun at Elizabeth Lake.
Avery

The sun is high,
The birds go by.
The sky is blue,
The water too.
The wind is blowing,
The lake is flowing.
Skyler

It's been two weeks since we planted our garden, so we took advantage of the break in the weather to go check it out.


Most of the vegetables are growing but there's no sign of potatoes or pumpkins yet.


Maybe they will emerge when the weather warms up again.

A group of mallards and Canada geese
Enjoy the calm of a sheltered area
On a wet, windy Saturday.


A muskrat stops to watch
Before continuing its journey
To who knows where?


A deer skull
Lies on the ground,
Partly covered by lush vegetation.

The Elders Are Watching is a powerful epic poem written by David Bouchard and beautifully illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers.


Our pictures were inspired by The Elders Are Watching.

After listening to The Elders Are Watching, we heard another story with a similar theme of caring for nature called Maxine's Tree by Diane Carmel Léger.

These pieces of writing were inspired by this story:

The tree in my yard has yellow, pink and orange flowers on it. Also it has leaves shaped like light bulbs. The wood smells like apples and is as smooth as a car. The tree might feel sad because one of the branches got cut off.
Owen

I love trees because you can climb really high. I used to have a favourite apple tree but I moved. But I will never forget that tree. I loved that tree because I made a swing on it and made a nest for a bird that had a broken wing.
Avery

The story reminds me of when I went to find an interesting tree. It was a game. I found a hollow tree. It was a very interesting tree because it was as tall as a giraffe and it was hollow. But my favourite thing about it is it was carved inside of it and you could climb to the top of it inside of the tree. We played in it for the rest of the day.
Connor

Today we headed to Elizabeth Lake for another adventure. We hoped to see some turtles. With overcast skies and a steady wind blowing off the lake we weren't too optimistic. However, we did find some brave turtles basking on logs in a sheltered bay.


Something else we were looking forward to was planting trees. Each of us got to plant our own spruce tree plug near some trembling aspens. Afterwards we stood like a tree near to where we had planted our trees.


Then we found a space to write or draw our reflections about our trip:

We just planted trees. There were spiders everywhere! And where I'm writing there are ants.
P.S. My tree's name is Larry.
Shhhh! A dragonfly just landed between the paper and me.
P.P.S. These ants are annoying me!
Alec

I like planting the trees because I like planting but I hate getting dirty.
Zaya

Owen and me planted a tree. We pulled out a lot of grass and we put a lace around it to show it was ours. We had to pull out the grass because if we didn't, the grass would suck up the tree's water.
Liam

Today when we went to Elizabeth Lake I found a leech. It was fat. We found a ducks's nest and I found a shell. We think a skunk found the nest and ate the eggs. I see the bottom of the lake right now. I am sitting on the dock.
Hannah

Elizabeth Lake is like having FUN. Last time we were here it was awesome. I saw a turtle for the first or second time.
Emily

Grass blowing,
Lake flowing,
Shrimp swimming,
And children laughing.
Now it's time to go.
I had fun at Elizabeth Lake.
Avery

Right now I'm picking off burrs.
This is a fun trip.
Connor

Today we planted trees. It is surprising how that tree can be so small and then grow so big.
Kiara

Today we planted trees and I named it Fred. You had to pull out the grass to plant it to give it a chance to grow.
Keoni

I had a fun time planting trees. When we were by the water, I saw shrimp and I found two shells. I had a tremendous time at Elizabeth Lake.
Dylan

Today I went to Elizabeth Lake and when we went to the dock, I caught shrimp with my bare hand.
Michael

Today we planted some trees at Elizabeth Lake. Emily and I planted a tree together. Our tree's name is Stacy.
Alexis

Wind is blowing,
Stream is flowing,
The lake is blue,
The sky is too.
Skyler

Today we saw three Western painted turtles. One was on a log and the other ones were climbing on the log.
Lucas

I loved the tree planting and the tree climbing. It was awesome. I caught a 2 year old ladybug and it flew away and flew back.
Breanne

Today we planted trees.
Isaac

Today we planted trees. It was fun. I enjoyed the part where we heard the breezy wind blowing and the dark clouds taking over.
Madison C.

Some of us didn't write much but did a drawing instead.

Many thanks to the three adults who came with us today and joined in the Reflection Time, drawing pictures and writing down their thoughts.

Our garden was first planted on May 17,
But we visited again on June 7
To check for any growth.
Most vegetables were starting to appear,
But there was no sign of potatoes or pumpkins,
Probably due to the cool weather.


Since then there have been some hot days,
But it's been mainly cool and wet.
With dry conditions this afternoon
And the prospect of rain,
We set off prepared for the worst.
When we got to the garden,
It was to discover that the vegetables had grown,
But so had the weeds.


We set to work
And soon we were busy pulling weeds,
Weeds and more weeds.
Thanks to our head gardener,
We're learning so much
About plants, planting and weeding a garden.