Kinder Garden News (Newsletter) F99

**g*@svn.net (Gardens For Growing People) (by way of Lucy Bradley BradleyL@ag.arizona.edu>)**

           //// KINDER GARDEN NEWS \\\\\

A FREE ON-LINE NEWSLETTER FROM GARDENS FOR GROWING PEOPLE

Autumn 1999
-----------
Welcome to the Autumn issue of Kinder Garden News, a free e-mail newsletter
from Gardens for Growing People. Kinder Garden News is delivered four times
a year to your e-mail box. If you know others who would like to subscribe
to Kinder Garden News, have them email us at  Growpepl@svn.net with their
e-mail address and the word "subscribe" in the text.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter reply with the word "unsubscribe" in
the message/subject field.

Back issues of this newsletter are available at our web site:
www.svn.net/growpepl

IN THIS ISSUE:
-------------
Gardens For Growing People Wins Award
Planting Trees with Children
The Truth About Trees
Tree Planting Resources
Autumn Garden Agenda
SALE!!!

##############################

Award Winning Catalog!

The Kindergarten Forum of California selected Gardens For Growing People as
this year's winner of the Gold Leaf Award for promoting children and
gardening.  The award was presented at the summer conference in September
which was held at the Davies Avenue School and Betty Peck's enchanting
garden.

To learn more about the Kindergarten Forum and the gold leaf award visit
their web site at http://hometown.aol.com//bettypeck/index.htm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Planting Trees with Children
============================

Autumn is an excellent time for planting trees.  Trees are slowing in their
photosynthesis work and turning their energy to root growth instead of leaf
growth, which makes this time of year the best for getting trees started.
By the time spring comes, fall planted trees are rooted and ready for
growth.  Planting a tree is a simple garden activity that can be done by
few or many hands, and it goes a long way towards enhancing the local
garden or community and even helps the planet on a global level.  Unlike
planting short lived annuals, the planting of a tree is a statement of hope
for the future.

____________________________________
Someone once said, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The
second best time is now. "
Here are some tree-mendous activities to do with kids:

*  Start a tree museum.  Collect samples of acorns, pinecones, leaves, bark
to touch and look at.
*  Explore products made in part or in whole from trees and add them to the
collection.
*  Read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, then ask students to list ways
that trees enrich our lives.
*  Have children select a tree to observe over the next few months.  Ask
them to look for changes in the tree's leaves, bark, fragrance, activity of
birds, etc.  Give them a sketch pad and pencils and have them draw their
tree.
*  If you are planing to plant a tree, visit a local nursery and ask
questions about what types of trees grow well in your area.  What are the
needs of different trees.  Make a decision on what kind of tree to plant.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE TRUTH ABOUT TREES
=====================

What is a tree?
Isn't that a silly question, everyone knows what a tree is, right? Or do we?

Michael Pollan said, "Every time we think we've figured out what a tree
really is ...it turns out we've simply come up with a temporarily handy new
description of it."   In one chapter of his outstanding book, Second
Nature, Michael Pollan's discusses his thoughts on trees.  Let me present a
quick summary of his chapter on trees, and we shall see that trees have
meant different things to different people at different times!

Trees have been the homes of spirits, elves, fairies, and demons for much
of history.  American Indians and, in fact, most pre-Christian people
practiced some form of tree spirit worship.  Because trees reach towards
the heavens they were often thought to have special relationships with the
gods.  American Indians did not cut down a tree unless absolutely
necessary, and even then, they took the trouble to explain their reasons to
the tree and ask forgiveness.

When the Puritans came to the new world, trees were perceived quite
differently.  The forested landscape was a wild and dangerous place where a
person might get lost or be killed, or fall away from Christ and
civilization.  The act of chopping down a tree was viewed as a righteous
act.  Deforestation was justified as a means of setting back the howling
wilderness and promoting civilization. Deforestation was synonymous with
progress.

Once striped of divinity, a tree in colonial eyes appeared as either a weed
or a commodity.  When a colonist looked at a tree he saw an oak barrel, or
a ship's mast.  Clearing trees improved the land for agriculture and many
colonists purchased land with an agreement to clear the land of trees or
else forfeit title to their property.

This does not mean that colonists never planted trees.  Tree planting took
on a social or political context.  Stately trees were often planted at the
head of a driveway, or to delineate the boundaries of property. The
planting of trees that would not mature for 50 years or more (oak or
walnut) asserted the owner's intent to hold onto the property.  Planting
trees began to take on a political significance all over the world.  The
Israelis planted millions of trees in the desert as a way of affirming
their claim to the land.  The significance was not lost on the Palestinians
who set fire to several Israeli planted forests.

In the nineteenth century, trees began to take on a romantic significance.
Perhaps because the earlier deforestation efforts were so successful, trees
in some landscapes became scarce, and when something is scarce it is often
romanticized. Men like Emerson, Thoreau, and Muir wrote about how trees
nurture our spiritual and emotional well-being. Today, most of us still see
trees through Thoreau's eyes.

Which view of a tree is the true nature of a tree?  Interestingly, It so
happens that the etymology of the word "true" goes back to an old English
word for "tree".  A truth, it seems, is nothing more than a deeply rooted
idea.  Of course, it matters a great deal to the tree how a tree is viewed.
Puritan and Colonial trees get chopped down, Political trees get planted,
but in revolutionary times they get chopped down.  Romantic trees tend to
be ones you preserve rather than plant.

Although the romantic definition of a tree has persisted for many years
now, there is yet a new definition of a tree circulating about.  This new
definition of a tree is good news for trees since it preserves existing
trees and provides incentive for planting more.  Scientists are the ones
formulating this new definition of a tree.  They are discovering that the
health of trees is caught up with our own health in ways we have not
imagined before.  Think of trees as the Earth's lungs that exhale fresh
oxygen and inhale the carbon dioxide that animals, decay and civilization
discharge.  The tree may be a vital organ in a global system more complex
than we realize.  Using special instruments, scientists have actually
observed the breathing of the earth.  In the summer the carbon dioxide
levels in the atmosphere drop as forests inhale.  In the winter, after
photosynthesis subsides, the carbon dioxide levels rise.  The breath of
civilization and our consumption of fossil fuels causes the carbon dioxide
levels to rise even more each year.  As deforestation continues in some
parts of the world, such as the rain forests, the earth's breathing is
growing labored.  The world's forests struggle to keep up with the breath
of civilization.  If a tree is the earth's lungs, then it is apparent we
need not only to preserve the ones we have left, but we also have a
significant need to plant more.

Ah ha, so that's what a tree is.  How could we ever have thought otherwise?!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tree Planting Resources
=======================

Tree Link
Visit this web site first! www.treelink.org   They provide information and
educational materials on selecting and planting trees, and networking with
other urban foresters.  The web site features an online version of the book
"The Simple Act Of Planting A Tree" which I highly recommend you check out.

National Tree Trust
Phone (800) 846-TREE or www.nationaltreetrust.org
This organization provides free programs, grant money, and information for
tree planting and introducing children to the environmental benefits of
trees.  The National Tree Trust also provides free native tree seedlings
for school and community projects.

National Arbor Day Foundation
Offers curriculum kits, booklets, newsletters, and posters for teaching
youth about trees.  Check out their web site at www.arbor
day.org/teaching/teaching.asp?event=

#########################################
A few recommended tree theme books to read with children are:

The Lorax by Dr. Suess
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Autumn Agenda
=============
*  Plant a tree! Observe changes in trees in your neighborhood.
*  Remove finished annual plants from the garden.  Pile them into a compost
heap.
*  Enjoy cooking and craft projects with harvest from the garden.  Add
leftover apple cores, melon rinds and Halloween pumpkins to the compost.
*  Rake fallen leaves and add to compost.
*  Turn compost every other week.
*  Plant cool season crops in the garden.  Cool season crops are generally
root, leaf or stem crops such as beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, celery
and kohlrabi.
* Plant fava beans as a cover crop to replenish nitrogen in the soil.

******************************************************

SALE!!!
====
A Gardens for Growing People Sale, just when you need one!  You won't find
these prices in the catalog so you must mention the Kinder Garden
Newsletter when ordering to receive the discount pricing.

All gloves only $4.00/pair (reg. $5.50) Sized by age, specify child's age.

Set of three garden hand tools for only $6.00 (reg. $10)

The Secret Garden Activity Kit $16 (reg. $20)

Order now --  Sale ends December 10, 1999.
For detailed descriptions please see our catalog

***********************************************
Happy Tree Planting,

Ruth and John Lopez
Gardens for Growing People

(Resources for Garden Based Education)

e-mail: growpepl@svn.net
web:	www.svn.net/growpepl

_______________________________________________
School_garden maillist  -  School_garden@mallorn.com
https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/school_garden