Leadership
The 2nd grade class continues to delve deeper into the Wonders of the Plant World. We have made four successful batches of healing salves and balms, utilizing the gifts from our gardens and grounds. The children are learning the alchemy and art of transforming ordinary herbs and flowers into extraordinary products.
The latest acquaintance we've made has been with the Calendula plant. It is from the Marigold family. We picked the flowers in our garden when they were open to the sun, for that is when the oils are drawn upwards through the stem and into the petals. It takes a week or so to dry the flowers, then the children plucked the dry petals and we infused them in jars with organic coconut and sunflower oils, for another two to three weeks, exposing them to natural light and shaking them regularly. When the infusions were ready, the children strained the oils into a bowl of warmed and melted beeswax pearls, adding vitamin E and essential lavender oils. After warming this mixture together they carefully poured it into prepared jars. Its truly magical watching the warm solution solidify, from the bottom up, into a little pot of gold. This lovely healing balm has many properties and uses, but we primarily use it for lips and skin .
I read the story from The Children's Herbal Book, by local herbalist Leslie Tierra, called Mari's Gold, to enliven their imaginations. The children also have made their own 'seasonal books' to document the journey of our work, and highlights of the season. The winter books will be coming home soon. We made, herbal/plant sprays for the holidays using sprigs of trees and flowers, learning about the meanings behind them. We made pinecone bird feeders, to help out the little feathered friends in the cold winter. We also made beeswax sand candles at the midpoint day between winter and spring, to keep the light burning in our homes and lives through winters' darkness. New life is springing all around us and the Earth is rich with new plants to explore. The inspiration continues to well in us all as good things have come from this journey.
We have managed to interest and ignite the greater Orchard community. Our 'project' was recently selected to be the recipients of the "Fund-a-need", at our recent auction, to refurbish the garden shed into a working Apothecary studio. Thank you so much to those who have contributed to this effort. Planning stages have begun and we will soon be ready to start digging and leveling the earth to create the foundation for a deck. We are excited by the potential of this new focus and work space at Orchard School.