Gardening from A to Z

There is a new blogging challenge for the month of April. Every day, except for Sundays, you are to write a blog post that revolves around one particular letter of the alphabet. I am definitely doing this for the Montessori Writer blog, but was also considering doing it here, to help me dream about spring and summer and my favorite outdoor activity.

This challenge is being sponsored by Tossing It Out. I have also signed up with my Montessori Writer's Thoughts blog, just in case I need an extra place to post, or feel particularly inspired. I considered doing Andi's Kids Books and Andi's Book Reviews, but I don't think I can organize those fast enough.

Would you care to join me?

How to Make a Sensory Garden

People who know me well know that I have a soft spot for children with issues such as sensory processing disorder. The other day, I found a blog post that could easily combine this desire to help children with my love for gardening!

A guest poster on Hartley's Life with 3 Boys shared how to plan a simple sensory garden, that encompasses all of those senses involved in SPD. These eight senses are sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, proprioception, vestibular, and introception. Parents can easily draw up a diagram, and then include their children in the gardening process, to fulfill those needs. It's actually amazingly simple to do. Check it out!

You can also follow Hartley Steiner's blog on Twitter @parenting SPD.

Spring gets buried....and I'm jealous of elementary children.

Living in Upstate NY feels like torture at this time of year. The weather has been getting warmer, and on Saturday, it was a little rainy. With all of the snow melting, I took some time to peruse the gardens. And lookie at what I found! Can you see all of the daffodils and tulips slowly pushing out of the ground?

I get so excited when I see a little growth. And while there is always some green that lingers year-round under the snow, it still felt good to see the little primroses and ivy geraniums poking through, also.

Though it was raining, I could still smell the fresh earth, and left for my day trip with a renewed sense of happiness. We got back to town really late last night. When I got home and went to bed, it was about 50 degrees outside, and I had visions of trying to go outside today to clean up the yard a bit.

Alas, I woke up to snow on the ground. There was about two inches of snow, with the promise of much more to come today. I have enjoyed the snow, and my newfound joy of hiking in it. But enough is enough already!

My students are ready for spring, also. On Friday, one of them asked me when we were going to start our plantings for the year. And, while doing reading to find articles for my Montessori Writer website, I came across this article about children at Countryside Montessori in Tampa, FL, who are already harvesting food from their school gardens.

I can already taste the vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh green beans. We went to Walmart to go shopping when we got back into town last night. They already had a bunch of bulbs and seeds on display. It took all of my self-restraint to not start buying them. Maybe in a couple of weeks? I'm sooooooo ready!