SC Botanical Gardens
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| “Composting” – SC Botanical Garden Society – West Sechelt |
What a wonderful day… today we had our Education Standing Committee at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Gardens in West Sechelt. The society’s president, Paddy Wanes, generously provided the SD46 Education Committee the Botanical Gardens Pavilion as venue for our May 2012 meeting. Loved it! Before our ‘official’ meeting, Paddy took us on a short tour of the 40 acres property. Absolutely beautiful. We opted not to walk around the entire grounds and looked at the vegetable gardens and ponds instead. Paddy’s enthusiasm for the facility, biodiversity, and educating others was awesome. I learned so much today about the Botanical Gardens during the tour that I failed to take pictures, but I took this one. This is a compost pile of blackberry bush cuttings. It has no seeds or roots. The pile is not a “hot compost” such that heat will be generated. This compost, one of many, will eventually decompose and works it’s way back into the land. Amazing. I learned something new. Can you tell that my background is in Chemistry and Mathematics. I was quite awe inspired with Paddy’s take on the life sciences and the capacity of the Botanical Gardens does have and could have with student learning. Best of all, the Botanical Gardens sustains itself with numerous grants, rental of the pavilion, and countless volunteers. I am grateful to have the opportunity to tour the Botanical Gardens. I loved listening about how West Sechelt Elementary students learn about vegetables, how Chatelech Secondary Foods classes harvest the garden, and how the Botanical Gardens Society’s partners with the Sechelt Food Bank. Service learning. What more can you ask for? Coffee, cookies, and an awesome Education Standing Committee meeting. Thank you committee members for the discussion. And, thank you Paddy for the tour and meeting place. Our next Education Standing Committee meeting is scheduled for September 26, 2012 at the SD46 School Board Office. Looking forward.