We were missing Matt today; His absence was felt keenly by all. But we pressed on: Day 2 at the Orchard Garden found us connecting with our surroundings. We found quiet spots to sit in the grass and observe the sights and sounds around the Garden. Eagles, hummingbirds and butterflies all paid us a visit. After the scorching heat of Day 1, it was a nice way to start the day and get our creative juices flowing. We went on a bit of a field trip, reflecting at various places around campus and doing some ecopoetry writing. It was a very pleasant walk with the breeze keeping the heat at bay and ..read more

Figure 1- Your authors; Matt Beaver (right) and Zoë Muckle (left) MATT BEAVER is an English and Drama teacher (in the making). He spends a lot of time in Black Box theaters and editing word files on his computer. He is thrilled to be in the UBC Orchard Gardens learning to touch wood and go for green. Matt grew up surrounded by forest and gardens, and is happy to be back in the trees.  ZOË MUCKLE is a Social Studies teacher (also in the making) (nah, she’s there already - Matt). She has 61 indoor house-plants, so…yeah...you could say she’s into gardening. She grew up gardening w ..read more

 Hello!      Our names are Nathan and Alex. We want to start our blog post by acknowledging that we are on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people whose land we are grateful to work, learn and play on. As members of the Education for Sustainability cohort, we are excited for the opportunity to continue building on our understanding of place-based and land-based education and delving further into our knowledge of the systems we belong to. Our goal over the next few weeks is to explore and reflect on what i ..read more

Ryan Vasseur shared his expertise on thermal composting, teaching us about the roles of micro organisms for plant nutrients and growth. We were thrilled to be spending all morning outside in brilliant sunshine. Ryan led us through the process of building a thermal compost.  Wood chips, beer mash, coffee grounds, and horse manure were thoroughly mixed and placed in a large composting container. The activity of the growing micro organisms in the coming weeks will create intense heat, breaking down the wood chips and other materials. This compost will be used to feed the trees and pla ..read more

Good day everyone :)  Kate and Tammy would like to start our post with a land acknowledgement: We would like to acknowledge that we are gathered today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. Today was a gorgeous day at the Orchard Garden, and we want to thank everyone who came to celebrate with us for the Summer Solstice.    Here is a video showcasing what happened at this special event. Video: Summer Solstice Celebration 2022 ..read more

 On January 23, Susan Gerofsky and Amanda Fritzlan were guests in professor Susan Herrington's theory course for graduate students in Landscape Architecture. After a brief introduction to learning gardens on campus and a Q&A in the classroom, we set out into the fresh snowy day to write some ecopoetry sketches on invisible gardens on campus, with three stops (at the original Orchard Garden site, at the Rhododendron Forest, and finally at the Orchard Garden itself). Here, with the students' permission, are some of the beautiful, deeply thoughtful and contemplative photos and poem ..read more

Despite snow on the ground and unseasonably cool weather, we met in the Orchard garden last Saturday to prepare for new spring growth. Daniel generously shared his expertise on pruning fruit trees. He guided us through pruning the apple, pear, and plum trees that border the garden. In the greenhouse, we were met by two resident felines, Charlie and friend, who were happy to have our company on a quiet Saturday morning. Chris led us in starting indoor seedlings (including lettuces, mustard greens, and pak choi) that will be transplanted outside to the Orchard Garden in the next few months.  ..read more

Did you know that June 21st is Indigenous Peoples Day? Today is an important day to reflect on and acknowledge the history, heritage, and contributions, of Indigenous peoples. On the day of this year’s summer solstice, we took a moment to remember and reflect on the tragedies of Canada’s far and recent history. We hope that you can also take time for reflection and/or celebrate by participating in an activity in your neighbourhoods!  Summer: One of the workshops I attended during my practicum was run by an Indigenous member of my school staff. She reminded me how we have responsibilities ..read more

                                                                                                        We began our day with a  tour of the Orchard Garden garden. The green of the winter kale plants was glowing beneath the overcast January sky. Librarians Saeyong Kim and Wendy Traas introduced us to the seed lending libraries ..read more

Workshop: Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herbs with Chris and Land Based Learning with Jenifer Grenz. By: Shelby, Amelia and Chiotin Friday was a beautiful day in the garden, in the morning we started with an activity standing in a circle using string to connect our energy and thoughts on how we will engage our future students to a garden, plants and/or land. Every answer was inspirational and acknowledged the importance of relationships to the outdoors and the natural elements that surround us.  We then engaged and learned all about Traditional Chinese medicinal plants and herbs with Chri ..read more