Garden-based learning

    I actually did enjoy this article - it's always interesting to read the works of your teachers. I liked learning about the Orchard Garden, Roots on the Roof, Landed Learning, the CLN, and the intentions behind these projects. I also really got a kick out of the slight anti-establishment edge that would pop-in-and-out of the writing. This quote in particular: “This anthropocentric view of the world as a collection of resources to be exploited and controlled by humans has been taken beyond the limits of sustainability,” makes me want to take to the streets and start eco-terrorizing some folks. It does feel a little bit like living in the twilight zone when having a garden and using it as a learning space requires justification. In general, I think swapping out the constrictions of a man-made environment for the open-air of a natural one is an overlooked human necessity. For example, how excellent would it feel to never again be subjected to fluorescent lights? That being said, it’s super interesting to think about all of the lessons which are implicitly reinforced from specifically using a community-run garden as a classroom. With regards to the three points about how to make the most of garden-based learning, I really like the point about making the garden the main space. I imagine disuse is the death of a lot of these types of projects, and it makes sense that you really do need to commit to the concept to make it work, especially in the face of all the infrastructure already in place propagating more “traditional” classroom settings.