Nature Studies Blog

READY, SET, GROW!
Carina Brossy

 

After a rather cold and wet winter, we are finally springing back into garden action. The leaf litter we collected and laid atop each garden bed protected and nourished the soil over the those cold months. After a light spread of organic fertilizer, students sowed new seeds just before spring break. So what's cooking under our garden soil?

This season we planted a wide range of leafy greens including Swiss chard, arugula, buttercrunch lettuce, romaine, Russian kale, lacinato kale and tatsoi. Root veggies include watermelon radishes and candy cane beets. We let our carrots grow throughout the fall and winter in hopes of a bigger spring harvest. Our 5th and 6th graders continue to cultivate young perennial herbs in what we expect will be our new Bible Herb Garden. We currently have lemon thyme, oregano, chives, cilantro, fennel, rosemary and mint.

Let the fun begin! 

Ready to start your own home garden? February and March are great months for creating a spring vegetable garden. Leafy greens are a great place to start, but also consider growing root veggies like potatoes. Not only are they easy to grow, but you can set aside some of your harvested potatoes for future planting. Potatoes for planting are called seed potatoes and are sold in netted bags at nursery's like Renfrow Hardware in downtown Matthews.

Besides picking your desired spring seeds or seedlings, making sure you have the right amount of sunsoil type (loose and nutrient-rich for potatoes) and access to water to ensure a good harvest. There are pros and cons to using raised beds over in-ground gardens. At Arborbrook, we use fourteen 6x4x1 size raised beds. They seem to work well for our student worker bees. 

There's nothing better than rolling up your sleeves and scratching into fresh earth to sow your precious seed. Though small, these seeds represent SO MUCH PROMISE. Thank you, Lord for spring and the promises found in your divine design. 

 

 

Our late February snow gave our herb garden quite a snowy blanket, but many of our perennials were happy with the extra water. They're looking great just a few weeks later. 

 

 

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Dining on Winter Weeds
Carina Brossy

 

One of my favorite previews of spring is the emergence of late winter weeds. You've seen them before - sprigs of thin wild onions, bright yellow dandelions and fluffy tufts of mysteriously green leaves. Some of these weeds are here to stay. Some will only grow in this transition season from winter to spring. My favorite late winter weed is chickweed. Packed with nutrients such as vitamin C, iron, zinc and magnesium, this small winter weed is a perfect addition to salads, smoothies and in a delicious pesto. And the best part? If you don't spray your yard, you'll have ample clean greens to kickstart a healthy spring!

This week, junior high nature studies students used a wild carpet of chickweed on campus to make a delicious bowl of chickweed pesto. 

 

 

 

Learn how you can identify chickweed in your yard. 

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Hunting with Raptors
Carina Brossy


Did you know that humans have been hunting with raptors, or birds of prey, for over 4,000 years? The sport of hunting with raptors today is called falconry.​​​

This week, several Arborbrook students had the unique opportunity to hear from a local falconer about this ancient sport. Our speaker was from the North Carolina Falconry Guild. Did you know our state even has its own guild? With his two Harris's hawks in hand, Saint and Ruby, students learned about the history, complex training, and valuable care involved in falconry. Ruby, perched on a gloved hand, studied our students before scanning the skies to take note of distant vultures overhead. Our speaker laid out raw meat for her to reach by way of a short flight demonstration. Saint was a little more apprehensive. He saw our woods, recognized its security and made a beeline. He was in no mood to do a demo by flying towards the provided quail meat. Our speaker explained that these birds are wild animals that make their own choices. Far from being pets, these beautiful raptors are trained to recognize the food rewards and safety associated with their owner. While given the ability to fly away freely after a hunt, most will return back to their trainer.

Students also marveled as the speaker fanned out Ruby's tail feathers to explain God's intelligent design found in the raptor's molting process. With about 7,000 feathers, hawks will shed and gain new feathers over time. Because of their aerodynamic design, birds lose and gain feathers in a bilateral, precise sequence so that they are still able to fly. What a skillful creator we serve!

Special Note from our Presenter:
Our local falconer is always looking for new woodland spaces to practice falconry and allow his hawks to hunt small game (for the hawk's consumption). If you or someone you know has 50+ acres of land and would like to welcome a falconer to the property, please contact nature studies teacher Carina Brossy (carina.brossy@arborbrook.org) and she will connect you with our speaker.

Arborbrook 6th grader Rylynn Coon assisted our speaker with Ruby. 

 

 

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The Beauty of Stillness
Carina Brossy

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10 

My students know that January is a challenge for me. I am not naturally a cold-weather lover. I'll take a hot morning over a cold afternoon any day. However, after 20 years of living in the Carolinas, I've come to appreciate the stillness of a cold January.

While there is always movement in nature, in January...

....the pace is slower,

...the tone is softer,

...and the colors are muted.

This stillness has a restorative purpose. Before long the first blades of daffodils will erupt from the ground signifying the gains made from a still, dormant earth. Before long we'll bring out our seed packets and watering cans to prepare for another busy growing season. But for now, what can we learn from January's quiet pace? This season of stillness is often observed when we can focus and appreciate the beauty found in the most mundane - the small shapes and hidden colors of daily winter life. Whether in restful rhythms of home life or quiet observations of nature, we make great gains when we appreciate where and how the Lord leads us. 

How to enjoy the outdoors in January

Spend some time outside with your family this January. Bundle up and take nature walk or bike ride in your local park. Look for a patch of curious green (or ice) in your backyard. Fill your bird feeders (or install a new one) and just watch. Sit by a warm outdoor or fireplace fire and dream of the what will be in 2025...while you wait. 

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. - Vincent Van Gogh

 

 

 

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Preparing a Winter Garden
Carina Brossy

After several hard freezes, our growing season is officially over. We harvested our beautiful fall vegetables just in time. Now what? Fortunately, we live in a climate that only takes a short growing break. In the North Carolina Piedmont you can actually start sowing your brassica seeds (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, etc) as early as January! We start sowing most everything else in the Arborbrook garden beds in mid-February. So what happens to the gardens between now and then? One of the best things we do for our empty garden beds is to give them a "winter blanket".

Here are some tips for best winterizing your garden (including adding a "blanket").

1. Clear out old summer/fall plants and mischievous weeds. 

2. Put away water canisters and tools. Consider cleaning your hand tools before stowing away.

3. Cover large garden spaces with a winter cover crop such as red clover or winter rye. These work especially well in big spaces and if you don't plan to grow again until summer. Cover crops serve as nitrogen-fixers that improve the soil. You can order cover crop seeds online or visit Renfrow Hardware in Matthews.

4. Another easy and cheap way to cover your garden is with autumn leaves or straw (aka: a winter blanket). Covering your empty garden beds with organic material helps to: 
a) Suppress winter weeds, for which there are MANY
b) Stabilize soil and reduce erosion 
c) Create additional organic matter in your soil as the leaves or straw decompose.


Arborbrook students collected leaves from the woods and transported them to their garden beds. What an adventure! Every child should splash through a giant pile of leaves. It's part of being a kid, and it made great fun out of garden work. 

 

 

 

 

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How to Harvest a Theater Performance
Carina Brossy

Despite a very dry and warm fall, the K-4 vegetable gardens grew the very best veggies we’ve had in years. The students worked hard to water each other’s class garden beds, pick out pesky weeds and reseed where needed. Their hard work paid off with delicious and nutritious salad parties. Even some of the most reluctant eaters nibbled the freshest of greens. Salad dressing certainly eases the way to second and third servings of salad, but many students ate their salads with minimal or no dressing. This year I included my own homemade balsamic vinaigrette for 3rd and 4thgrade classes. See below for recipe.

Our watermelon radish crop was also superior to years prior. Wedges of radishes, with greens and pinks resembling watermelons, sat atop a cream cheese covered cracker. The juicy and slightly spicy crunch had many asking for more…and more. 

As I witnessed the joy of the harvest and mouths filled with green goodness, I couldn’t help but think about this fall’s lower school production of The Sound of Music.  What on earth could a garden have in common with theater? Many of you will see or will have seen the play upon reading this post. You will undoubtedly enjoy this beautiful tale performed by our very talented cast. BUT…if you’ve ever been in a theater production or have/had a child in theater you will absolutely have a greater appreciation for all that goes into making this weekend’s “simple script” an incredible viewing experience. 

Our garden is like a theater. 

There is a wealth of biological activity working day and night in concert to turn a tiny seed into your next meal. Water, sun and space are the obvious necessities for a plant to grow, but there is a behind the scenes, a microscopic level of synthesis and synchronism among all the “actors”. A garden and a theater performance delight our senses but the true majesty is the confluence of individual components that finally combine to make a harmonic whole.

The Lord, the ultimate director, invites us to experience the beauty of his script today. You’ll never eat salad the same way.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Psalm 34:8

 

 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

Combine everything in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake to combine.

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The Power of Garlic
Carina Brossy

One of my favorite plants to grow in the fall garden is the beloved garlic. This bulb plant is not only an incredible culinary ingredient, but also super easy to grow and use for a multitude of medicinal purposes. September through early November is the best time to plant garlic. Each clove in a garlic head represents one garlic “seed”. 

Here are a few important steps for growing this wonderful SUPERFOOD.

1.     Purchase your garlic seed bulb at your local nursery instead of the grocery store. 

2.     Follow the planting spacing, depth and soil needs and be prepared to wait. Garlic has a long growing season for good reason. Before the soil gets too cold and hard in the winter, garlic needs time to establish healthy roots before going dormant. Once spring warms the soil, the garlic will grow taller foliage and focus its energy on growing a full bulb. 

3.     Once the foliage starts to die back in early June, you know your garlic is ready. 

4.     Freshly harvested garlic and garlic skin is very soft and your garlic will need another week or two to cure. In our home, we enjoy braiding garlic and hanging it on our wall. It’s such a labor of love, but completely satisfying. Be sure to save a few heads of garlic for dividing and replanting again in the fall. YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO BUY GARLIC AGAIN!

FIVE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GARLIC

1.     Garlic is a natural bug repellant

2.     Garlic has anti-viral properties

3.     Garlic has immune boosting properties

4.     The active compounds in garlic reduce blood pressure

5.     Garlic contains antioxidants.

For more health information, visit 11 Health Benefits of Garlic.

 

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Among the Bees
Carina Brossy

Cringe. Swat. Run! 

Nobody wants to be chased down by a bee, but our instinct to assume we are the target of villainous, mafioso bees is simply the stuff of cartoons.  While bee stings are real, and for a small minority, even fatal, bees are rarely in pursuit of humans. Lately our campus has been “abuzz” with bees. With the arrival of cooler temperatures and many late summer/early fall flowers in bloom, bees are doing what they do best – foraging. They know winter is coming; it’s time to store up food! 

Our fall-blooming MAXIMILIAN SUNFLOWERS provide ideal sources of pollen and nectar for these amazing insects. This week, several of our younger students spent time studying the shapes and sizes of these bright native sunflowers as well as their many visitors. As they stood still observing the flowers, they quickly realized they were also standing still among the bees. And not one student was stung – no cringe, swat or run. The bees were COMPLETELY disinterested in them. It brought our students so much joy to watch these magnificent creatures zip from flower to flower. Like so many aspects of learning, the more you engage with God’s creative design, the more you appreciate it.  As they watched with wonder, our Arborbrook resident beekeeper shared several incredible facts about the life of bees. 

Wait! What? We have a beekeeper on staff? Yes – our very own Alicia Shepard is a certified beekeeper and maintains hives of her own. Alicia serves as Garden Assistant supporting our Nature Studies program, gardens and SO much more. Here are just a few of the amazing facts she shared with students: 

 

Five AMAZING Bee Facts: 

1.     All the honeybees we observed collecting pollen are FEMALES. In fact, all worker bees are female. 

2.     Bees keep pollen they collect in a space on their hind legs called a pollen basket.

3.     Honeybees communicate through dance. If bees find a good source of nectar, they will return to the hive and dance in a particular pattern to guide the other bees to this food source. 

4.     If a bee stings you, it will die. Because of this, bees are not inclined to sting if it’s not absolutely necessary for their protection or the protection of the hive.  

5.     Honeybees start working the minute they emerge from their pupa. Their first job is to clean up the cell they occupied when they were in their earlier pupa stage. They never sleep, but maintain a vigorous work schedule.  

Bees are critical to the health of our gardens and our edible landscape. Maintaining a floral landscape on campus is just one of the many ways we strive to be good stewards of the natural resources the Lord provides. Our students are encouraged to move from fear to awe as we enjoy the mysteries of the insect world. 

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The Groaning of Creation
Carina Brossy

The magnitude of natural disasters speaks to a deep groaning of creation. The Earth, unstable this side of heaven, longs for a time of balance and peace.  As created beings we also long for a day when fear and instability no longer plague our lives. But in the midst of a fractured landscape, the Lord teaches us to sift through the splintered pieces to discover his unwavering faithfulness. It’s not as simple as finding a “diamond in the rough” or a “silver lining”. Those cliché’s make it sound so easy. 

Take the Monarch Butterfly, for example. Third grade nature study students engage in a year-long focus on the life of this simple orange and black butterfly. The metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly is well-known among children, but few understand their migratory journey from the US down to southern Mexico each fall. The journey is long – often several thousand miles. Due to their short life spans, each Monarch butterfly makes this journey for the first and only time in their life, never having navigated this long route before. 

Through difficult weather, fields of predators and diminishing floral food landscapes, the Monarch flies on with one single goal in mind – finding its winter refuge. All winter they will roost in the Oyamel forests of Michoacan, Mexico until spring when they make the return journey back to their same exact birth location. I have trouble finding my car keys let alone the place I was born without my GPS. 

We all need this type of perseverance in the midst of a long and often unpredictable journey.  It reminds me of Hebrews 12:1-2: 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” 

What is most fascinating is that those Monarchs that make this journey live significantly longer than the Monarchs that live in the southernmost locations of the US (namely southern FL and CA) where mild winters make migration unnecessary. Their dangerous journey creates an endurance and longevity not found in the other butterflies. What a sobering nature lesson in the midst of such tragic, nature-related chaos. 

To symbolize this incredible migration, third graders mail life-size Monarch butterfly drawings as well as a large class butterfly down to live at the Mexican schools close by the Monarch Biological Reserves in the Oyamel forests. We typically receive photos of the Mexican students holding our students’ class butterfly. What a delight for our students to see a piece of themselves thousands of miles away as if they too made this journey. In the spring, ACA students receive “overwintering” butterfly drawings from other students across the US – another great discovery.  

Be on the look out for these migrating butterflies this fall. They often land on fall goldenrod and the Arborbrook Maximillian Sunflowers to refuel. 

 

 

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What To Plant This Fall
Carina Brossy

With an early start to crisp autumn weather we’re ready more than ever to sow the Arborbrook garden beds with wonderful fall veggies. Here in the North Carolina Piedmont, you can generally start your fall gardens as early as August with well-watered root veggies and some greens. By the time Labor Day arrives, it’s game on for fall planting. So, what are Arborbrook students growing this fall? Within our 15 raised vegetable garden beds, we’re growing a combination of the following plants: 

  • Russian Kale
  • Rainbow Swiss Chard
  • Lettuce Mix
  • Danver Carrots
  • Watermelon Radishes
  • Golden Beets
  • Candy Cane Beets
  • Snap Peas

We will also start our indoor hydroponics unit soon, which is a larger project in 6th grade Nature Studies. 

Students worked hard last week pulling the last bits of summer plants from their garden beds and filling containers with new soil for growing carrots. Along the way, they made fantastic discoveries. You never know what critters call the gardens their home. 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking to try something new in your fall garden? Try tatsoi, leeks, bok choi or herbs such as cilantro, chives, and rosemary and medicinal flowers such as calendula. For a wonderful fall garden project, leave a space to plant garlic in October for an early June harvest. More on garlic in another post. 

Make sure you amend your soil well before planting, especially if you grew delicious summer veggies. Soil gets run down with successive planting. Adding proper compost and organic fertilizer with reinvigorate your garden beds. 

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The Gift of Wonder
Carina Brossy

 

Wonder = a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar or inexplicable 
 

The gift of wonder is an offering to children and caregivers alike. We have the privilege of not only witnessing our child's "surprise mingled with admiration", but have been granted the exquisite task of setting the stage for these "beautiful, unexpected, and unfamiliar" observations. 

Arborbrook teachers set forth an "abundant feast" of ideas and experiences that leave indelible impression on our students. Our nature studies program is no different, offering a revolving door of wondrous finds.

These first few weeks of school have revealed a multitude of curious insects, tasty fresh fruits and vegetables and so many acts of Wonder it's hard to record them all. Our passion fruit vine serves as a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary while our cherry tomato plants attract the large and neon green tomato hornworm. Garden spiders, stink bugs, lizards and two foot long pole beans keep our students exploring with rapt attention. The muscadine vine keeps our students munching and refreshed by its cool sweet juices. Just a simple wondrous day in the gardens - a true gift from God. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What's Growing on Campus?
Carina Brossy


Arborbrook is proud to host several large learning gardens.
 

garden

Our K-6 Edible School Garden contains 14 raised garden beds (one per class) and two herb gardens (rosemary, oregano, thyme, anise hyssop, lemon balm and mint). In addition to our seasonal vegetable and herb beds, you'll find the following fruit bearing plants:

- muscadine vines
- passion fruit vines
- two Celeste Fig trees
- strawberries
- an Asian Pear tree
- two Fuyu persimmon trees
- a pomegranate tree 
- two paw paw trees


Along with perennial and annual flower beds scattered around campus, our Pollinator Garden in front of Building Two serves as a host for a variety of butterflies, bird feeders and our stunning perennial fall-blooming Maximillian Sunflowers.

Our woodland playground serves as an entrance to our wooded trails where students can explore everything from native plants and trees, decomposing logs, mushrooms and lichen, insect species and reptiles. In the spring, the dry woodland creek bed fills with life, and students can wade in the water searching for tadpoles and crayfish.

Our Nature Studies program for all K-8 students allows students to regularly explore these areas while they play, sketch and cultivate fall and spring veggies!

Twice a month, we will post information about our gardens, what is in season, as well as how you can cultivate flowers and veggies in your own backyard. Stay tuned!

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