Gardening as ecological education

SPIRITUALITY IN TILTING THE SOIL For their volunteer work, Year 12 students from Miriam College worked the garden plots of the Mother Mary Joseph Community for planting, working under supervision for an hour a day. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

‘Plantitas’ and ‘plantitos’ became a trend during the pandemic, when people confined to their homes started growing plants as a form of therapy and for their well-being.

What satisfaction do people get from plants and gardening?

This year, Miriam College Grade 12’s Miriam Spirituality in Action (MISIA) program asked the Environmental Studies Institute (ESI) to enroll some interested students for their volunteer work. ESI suggested that the students take up gardening. In concrete terms, they had to prepare the garden plots of the Mother Mary Joseph Community (MMJ) for planting.

Learning moments

The students began their volunteer work with an orientation session on ESI and the MMJ Garden, and the importance of connecting with nature. Their work included tilling the soil, pounding eggshells, removing weeds and stones, planting taro and watermelon, and watering the plants in the garden. They worked one hour a day under the supervision of a superior.

As they worked, the volunteer students noticed the small rainbow they made while watering the plants. They saw how eggplants grew on the branches of the plant, and how insects and birds moved everywhere. Meanwhile, the trees provided cool air and shade for peace and quiet.

These learning moments became a core memory for many Miriam students.

“I’ve come to realize what it’s like to slow down… immerse yourself in nature. In addition, we started working to create a better place, not only for ourselves, but for other people as well,” said one. “Doing volunteer work for the environment, no matter how small, made me think I was making a difference,” said another. A garden is a safe, healing and peaceful space. Gardening is a form of active participation in the work of nature around us. By gardening we create a space of connection where we can talk and communicate with ourselves and each other.

Every day, yet radical

Gardening helped slow the Miriam students’ academic pace, gave them a chance to breathe and gave them a new set of experiences that can inspire them to do more for their community and the environment. Gardening seems like an ordinary, everyday task and is a radical act that can make a difference in many ways, from securing food to reconnecting with the earth. And in the case of introducing Miriam students to the wonders of a garden, ESI performed its task of providing a different kind of education: ecological education.

(ESI is one of Inquirer ESG Edge’s partner organizations.)