Winding Down.

As our semester begins to come to a close we are left thinking about how much we will miss our students and our garden. We spread some of the last remaining mulch today and I am afraid to see what will happen when we are absent for three weeks and no one is there to tame the weeds. There are also so many beautiful things that we will all miss over our winter break. 

Our corn is really starting to take off. There are even some husks that are taking shape. Soon the corn will be the tallest plant in our garden. Besides the trees of course.

When Sam and Becca are woken up before 8 am they sometimes take on their evil bean mustache wearing alter ego's. When this happens it is not safe for the children to come out. Me and Nico can usually find safety in the shed or the branches of a tall tree. 

It was a great day and the kids could not get enough of the garden. We started with a scavenger hunt that was going great, but then three Monarch butterflies appeared. After that it took the guys a few minutes to get me and the kids to stop chasing them and back on task. It is fantastic to see the gorgeous butterflies appearing more frequently as the garden starts to develop.

The scavenger hunt continues. Sam helps a few kids find some of the more elusive leaves.

I could only manage to hold onto my camera for about five minutes before it was plucked from my hand by eager students. The chase is on.

The camera theif is caught and stands for a picture that captures his true remorse.

Before stealing the camera again and photographing friends. 

At this point the competitiveness of the scavenger hunt is at its peak. Im pretty sure I'm loosing to.

Despite the fact that the tomatoes are still green. It does not take our students long to figure out this trick. Nico got some great shots of their adventure through the garden.

The carrots are found and devoured!

Finally it all comes to a close with a game of sharks and minnows. The great thing about this game in kindergarden is that everybody wins, except for the college students. 

Saying goodbye to the kids at the end was a really difficult thing to do. We all hope that we will see them next semester and that they have a happy holiday. The garden will be very lonely without them. So will many of us.

-Tristram