Learning With, Not From, the Garden

 After reading Susan's chapter on campus teaching and learning gardens, I found myself strongly agreeing with the idea that it is essential to teach students about respecting ecosystems. As the article points out, when we treat the living world as a co-teacher rather than just a resource, it opens the door to new ways of learning and relating. With enough respect, ecosystems can “reward” us, not only with food or materials, but with knowledge, beauty, and deeper understanding.

I connected this idea to my own experience learning in the Orchard Gardens. I still remember how wonderful the fruit tasted and how refreshing it felt to be outside working in the sun. It wasn’t just about the harvest, it was about building a relationship with place. I even learned about the empress tree, something I likely never would have encountered otherwise. That sense of discovery and connection is something I carry with me.

The garden is a space where all of these can come together. My time at the Orchard Gardens showed me that learning doesn’t need to be confined to a single mode. We can be serious while also being playful, we can engage our minds while also engaging our senses and emotions, and we can value both scientific and artistic ways of knowing.

For me, the biggest takeaway is that students need a wide breadth of experiences to see themselves in relation to the living world. Gardens, like classrooms, are not just about producing outcomes, they are about cultivating respect, curiosity, and imagination. That is the kind of teaching I hope to carry forward.