Posts Tagged: children in the garden
Kids in the Garden.
By T. Eric Nightingale, U.C. Master Gardener of Napa County Spring is around the corner,...
For the Birds
Doing monthly maintenance at the Children’s Memorial Garden in Fairfield has been more enjoyment than labor. The volunteer Master Gardeners who participate, show up early on the appointed day, with their tools, always eager to begin the task at hand. Everyone finds a job from weeding, deadheading, raking leaves and removing debris. Often we talk and share plant information or discuss upcoming Master Gardener events. Occasionally, in silence, we listen to the hum of bees and observe dragonflies and damselflies as they zoom in and out between the plants. Earlier this year, we observed a crow and heard a meadowlark in the magnolia and arbutus trees behind the little garden.
It was listening to the sounds of the garden that gave me an idea. Why not add a birdhouse on a pole to the garden. It might become a home for the birds and would be a delight to the adults and children who pass by daily. My husband and I had a rustic birdhouse that was embellished with a western motif (metal horse head, stars and horseshoe). The pole we envisioned was something natural, not something perfect or man-made. When we found a seven foot long tree branch in the alley behind our house, it was exactly what we were searching for. After removing most of the branches and cleaning the trunk, the birdhouse was attached to the pole with glue and screws. One weekend we took the birdhouse on the branch to the Children’s Garden and dug a two foot hole to place and stabilize the pole. Not many people notice this addition as it blends into the garden like it has always been there.
As of this writing, there are no new residents in the birdhouse. Maybe the birds are unsure of the horse head significance on their potential nesting home. The birdhouse is standing guard over this tiny garden the Master Gardeners planted in memory of the children of Solano County who have passed away.
Entrance to the bird house. (photos by Sharon Rico)
Bird house on a branch (pole).
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A Ceremony at the Children's Memorial Garden, Fairfield
The Children’s Memorial Garden is a small garden (17x27 feet) in front of the Solano County Health and Social Service Dept. on Beck Avenue in Fairfield. Solano County Master Gardeners created this lovely garden in 2007. Carolyn Allen designed the garden and a crew of Master Gardeners dug holes and placed 1 and 5 gallon plants. The garden has evolved into a mini-sanctuary which the Solano Master Gardeners maintain. It is an educational garden with signs naming unusual plants and pests (such as spittle bugs).
On Friday, April 26th, the annual memorial ceremony was held in front of the garden. The Children’s Memorial flag had been displayed over the garden all month. The flag shows a chain of children holding hands with one child missing.
A group gathered consisting of county workers, Supervisor Linda Seifert, a couple of Master Gardeners, a minister and some loved ones to honor the twenty-two children in Solano County who died in 2012. The list consisted of two male teenagers who had died as the result of gunshot wounds, two female teenagers from an auto accident, three children as results of medical complications and fifteen babies (from SIDS and premature births). What made this event visually poignant was seeing the blanket with shoes from each child displayed, including the tiny knitted socks belonging to the babies.
Everyone attending was invited to fill out a cardboard cutout of a child attached to a stick and place it in the soil. Many wrote their message and silently placed their personal memorial. Later this month as the Master Gardeners work in the garden, the faded and water worn paper tributes will be collected as part of the maintenance of the garden.
The Children's Memorial Garden (photo by Sharon Rico)
The Children's Memorial Garden-Then and Now
In the spring of 2007, the Solano County Master Gardeners took on a project of designing, planting and maintaining the Children’s Memorial Garden on Beck Ave., in Fairfield. The dream for this little garden was a colorful, happy place to honor the children who died as a result of violence in Solano County. The garden, when the Master Gardeners were first introduced, was barren, full of weeds and had rocks and boulders haphazardly dumped throughout. Not what the county had originally envisioned.
Master Gardener, Carolyn Allen, created a design plan and in April of 2007, a crew of Master Gardeners arrived to place plants that were ordered by Solano County Grounds Supervisor, Jim Simon. The garden has matured into a lovely, peaceful setting that is enjoyed by the employees at Solano Health and Social Services, the clients using that facility, and the general public.
This spring, vegetables were added for a bit of whimsy. There are strawberries, tomatoes, an eggplant, celery and red Swiss chard. The plants are thriving. In fact, the tomatoes and strawberries have fruit which is ripe and ready to pick. These plants are labeled with wooden stakes next to them.
Two Bunny Tail grasses (Lagurus ovatus) were added early this year, and protected with metal cages. This particular plant had been placed previously, but resembling a weed, it was sprayed with an herbicide. We’re hoping the cages and wooden stakes will keep them from future demise.
Every year on the last Friday in April, a lunchtime ceremony is held at the little garden. Local dignitaries speak, a Children’s Memorial flag is flown and parents of these little victims come to honor “our” children. This year, fourteen pairs of children’s shoes were placed on a hopscotch board to represent the young victims in 2011.
From February to November, Master Gardeners, show up early at the garden to clean the litter, deadhead plants, add new plants, pick veggies, fertilize and generally maintain the dream now realized. It is a labor of love to maintain the Children’s Memorial Garden.
Unkempt garden needs a face lift. (photo by Jennifer Baumbach)
Garden after cleanup, and relocation of boulders. (photo by Carolyn Allen)
Garden when it was first replanted. (photo by Carolyn Allen)
The garden today. (photo by Sharon Rico)
Another view of the Children's Memorial Garden. (photo by Sharon Rico)