Seedschool

We are beyond grateful to be featured in the spring issue of Edible Dallas Fort Worth ! What a delightful telling of Seedschool's story, Matilda, the mud kitchen, and more. There's even a recipe for Farm Garden Greens and Weeds Salad. Visit the Edible DFW website to find out where to pick up your copy (or read it online). As always, Matilda has a big stack of magazines by the door. Come grab one!

Hi Facebook friends! We don't spend much time over here, but we sure wish you'd come join us on Instagram! It's fun over there and anyway, one algorithm is all we have time to connquer. Click this link or scan the qr and follow along. We're having so much fun !
https://www.instagram.com/seedschoolbus?igsh=cXc2M3EwNXMyOTF3

It was a lovely day for a garden tour! Well, it rained, but it was a lovely day. Everything looks so green and vibrant in the rain! We enjoyed time with school families and neighbors, toasted each other with lemonade, and relaxed with massages from . Thank you to everyone who braved the rain and came to support the Farm Garden. We are blessed!
🌻
🌻
🌻

At Seedschool, we encourage independence and freedom of choice. The children set the rhythm of their day and the direction of their projects. This independence is typically supported at home as well.
What to wear is one of the first decisions of the morning and can set the tone for your day (think of how you feel when you put on your favorite cozy sweats or the suit that gives you confidence).
Here we have a t-shirt worn as pants, a scarf as a shirt, and underwear as a hat, with a bicycle seat for defense. We also see princess dresses with rain boots, mismatched socks and shoes, and wildly mixed patterns (stripes with plaids, no problem).
Let your children make age appropriate choices about their own lives. Let go of convention. Raise confident, independent people!
🧚‍♂️
🤸🏽‍♂️
💃

Please copy, paste, and share!!!

OPPORTUNITY TO HELP SAVE THE HEXTER GARDEN! 🌱

Hexter Elementary in East Dallas is getting a new school building! This is exciting for the community, however the well established Hexter Garden will be turned into a parking lot, destroying over 15 years of garden beds, trees, and multiple native pollinator gardens planted by the students.

Please plan to attend the community meeting at Hexter Elementary on Tuesday, March 7 at 5:30 to show your support of the Hexter Garden.

We are hoping to advocate to preserve the garden through construction. We also want to educate the community and the architects about the value of our soil as a natural resource and the potential destruction of the entire ecosystem preserved in our current garden space.

The Farm Garden is all tucked in for the coldest and longest night of the year. Wishing everyone a happy and cozy Winter Solstice!
❄️
❄️
❄️

We have an owl in our owl box!!! There's likely a pair of them. We are so excited that they found us! Now that they have claimed our box as their own, they will hang out through the winter and hopefully have owlets in the spring! Thank you, Wild Birds Unlimited for sponsoring our owls and other wild birds!
🦉
🦉
🦉

At last, a Luffa!
Since March, every vine that sprouted either washed away in the rain, got eaten by birds and squirrels, or shriveled in the heat. This one is the strong survivor. If the warm weather will stay with us a little longer, it will keep growing and it may even get friends too!
We will try again next year to cover the trellis in vines.
🥒
🌱
🥒

Adventures in Nature with North Texas Master Naturalists at Twelve Hills Nature Center (co-lead by yours truly). Come and join us!

Tiny Trekkers is back! Bring your children for a guided nature exploration at Twelve Hills Nature Center on Friday October 7th, 10am!

TIny Trekkers meets at 10:00am on the first Friday of each month at various locations around the Dallas area. RSVP using this form to be notified of meeting locations: https://forms.gle/2m25LgbQXomtRM5TA

Tiny Trekkers is a series of nature explorations for young children and their parents or caregivers. These experiences are most appropriate for toddler and preschool age children, but younger or older siblings will also enjoy them. Children are encouraged to explore freely and discover things in the natural environment. Parents and Master Naturalist volunteers will support the children's explorations, helping them learn through discovery and inquiry!

Legos have been a hands down favorite with the children this school year. There is so much to learn from them: math, fractions, shapes, spatial skills, colors, textures, social skills, cooperation, adventure, imagination, oh it goes on and on. We don't have sets that are to be made up in a certain way; it is all bits and pieces to encourage free expression.
Because the children spend so much time and develop such elaborate games, I allow them to keep their Lego creations out on the shelf at the end of each day. When they tire of something, they will take it apart and make something new. It is their work and should be their choice.
That said, I find it oddly satisfying to take everything apart when we go on breaks (time for renewal). I have offered the children the option of doing this themselves before breaks, but they didn't want to. I said nothing further and let them leave their creations. They won't be back until September and will discover new favorites and new routines upon their return.
🧱
👫
🧱

We will be there with Eloise and Olivia! Come see us!

This weekend the sixth annual Community Nature Expo will be on the 1st floor of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library! From 11:00am - 2:00pm, community organizations and others interested in facets of the natural world that is all around us, will be gathered in one place - the Central Library! Stop by for exhibits, information, and live animals!

Join us Sunday for yarn and conversation! You don't have to knit - crochet, spinning, sewing, or even sketching would all be welcome! This is primarily an adult get together, but children can tag along!
🧶
❤️
🧵

We care for the little creatures. There is an ant pile in the sidewalk crack. When we find ants, we say "excuse me ants" and walk around or over them. These got stepped on. Many gifts of food were brought as a peace offering.
🐜
🐜
🐜

We spent yesterday afternoon outdoors in the beautiful 70° sunshine imagining the spring flowers and sketching them in our nature journals. Today it is 35° and raining. Those sunshiny flowers look so wonderful!
🌻
🌸
🌼

Knitting with Matilda: Sunday, March 27th from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. Bring a cup of tea if you like and join us for yarn and good conversation! All sorts of fiber crafters are welcome. DM if you're interested! Share and tag!
🧶
🚍
🧶

Seedschool updated their business hours.

Happy Hatchday to Eloise and Olivia! They are two years old today! Please visit them on Instagram to see photos of all their adventures with us!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaXmkzFFByk/?utm_medium=copy_link

It was a fun day at The Children’s Market Pop-Up Shop! As promised, Jax and Nikko stopped by to shop. Thanks to everyone who came out on this chilly day!
🚍
🎪
🚍

We've been sorting seeds from the Farm Garden for the Children’s Market Pop-Up Shop on Saturday. We have seeds from our Luffa Gourds, Sunflowers, and Basil. We also have Texas Bluebonnets and wildflowers! Local folks, come see us Saturday 2-12-22 from 11 to 3.
🌻
🌿
🌻

Fortunately, the mud kitchen wheelbarrow was full of water and in the shade before our long weekend below freezing, producing a giant block of ice that requires smashing, moving, and breaking! If we are lucky, it may be with us for a couple days!
🧊
❄
🧊

Every day I look at Matilda the bus and am reminded of the kindness, goodness, and talent of Honor Burns. She is my daughter's best friend, and a special person. Early in January, Honor had heart surgery and has had neurological complications. This is going to be a long and challenging experience for her and her family. We are asking for prayers and donations to support her recovery. Please donate if you feel called to offer support.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-honor-in-recovery-from-surgery

If you are going out exploring, it's important to bring along your treasure map! J., age 5, drew this detailed map showing how to get to the treasure (the circles at the top are the treasure and the long lines show how to get there). In the drawing, you can see the picnic table, the treehouse, and the tree. The second photo is the explorers' territory.
🗺
❌
🧭

We found a little Gulf Fritillary caterpillar clinging to the remains of the frozen Passion Flower vines. There were only a few sad leaves. It's hard to believe the caterpillar was alive. After a couple of calls to local garden centers (who of course don't have Passion Flowers in January), I reached out to the Oak Cliff Gardeners Facebook group. Within minutes I had an invitation to a charming garden with plenty of (unfrozen) Passion Flower leaves. Our caterpillar looks happy and should have plenty to eat to store up some butterfly energy!
🐛
🌿
🦋

"My sock needs to be knitened back together. You're the best knitener." - J., age 5 upon discovering a hole in his sock. The children often see me knitting while they are at play (which I can so cleverly do while still looking at them). When they express interest, I show them how. The focus and motor skills for knitting and other handwork tend to emerge around age six. To begin developing these, we work on simpler yarn crafts like pom-poms, and Ojos de Dios.
🧶
🧶
🧶