Garden Walk Through the Eyes of a 10 Year Old.

Last week we went on a garden walk at the Museum Garden at the Accokeek Foundation. The Accokeek Foundation is 200 acres of park on the Potomac River that, “serves as an outdoor classroom for educational programs about land conservation, historic preservation, sustainable agriculture, and environmental stewardship.” It’s open dusk to dawn 365 days a year. They have a colonial farm, heritage livestock, an organic Ecosystem Farm, walking trails, cool activities – it’s a pretty interesting place.

We went for a Garden Walk of their Museum Garden which holds a variety of plants – native beds, a small permaculture bed, sundries, medicinal and culinary herbs etc. The idea is that each bed is supposed to convey an idea in gardening – an exhibit if you will. Farmer Dan led us around, explaining everything well with the help of Molly, The Community Outreach and Education Coordinator. Molly is amazing. I need her to come to my wild backyard and tell me what all the things growing back there are and how I can use them. I’m afraid to get rid of anything because I’m pretty sure everything is SOMETHING and I’d hate to find out too late I ripped out something incredibly useful!

So we’re walking, we’re learning. Ten minutes in I’m wishing I’d brought something to take notes on because there’s so much to learn. First off, I’m doing the three sisters thing all wrong. I planted everything at once. You’re supposed to plant the corn, then the squash, then the beans. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. Also, comfrey. Need to grow the comfrey. It’s BEAUTIFUL!

Isn’t it pretty!

So anyway, we’re walking, we’re learning. We’re ooing and aahing and sniffing and tasting and asking. It’s awesome. But then Little decides she’s DONE. So, while trying (unsuccessfully) to calm her, I handed the camera to Big. She took some nice pictures. Enjoy and let me know if you spot anything familiar!

For more information about the Accokeek Foundation visit http://www.accokeekfoundation.org