Landscaping with the Gardeners in Summer Camp

The children that attended garden camp this summer helped with some simple landscaping. The group worked together to create a border around the lettuce, beans, summer squash and sweet potatoes. After pounding in all of the edging, they worked to spread the mulch.
Notice the slight curves in the edging as they carefully made sure not to impose on any of the vegetables. Proof that careful observation is important when working in the garden. What is so nice about this activity is that as the children work with the rubber mallets to pound in the edging, it brings them closer to the soil where they notice all sorts of bugs, which become an important part of this project. We always take time to stop to look at what others have noticed and discovered. The children learn to be respectful of the insects that we find and we talk about whether what we found is a beneficial insect or maybe one that is not so good for the garden. We don't kill any of the insects but we do recognize that some bugs (and slugs) will probably be helping themselves to some of our garden produce. All part of the learning process! The first photo is before the landscaping and the second photo is after.