Dear Parents,
We carry out the nature activities we plan for our children at Binbir Çiçek Farm. Below you can find the details of these beautiful days when we prepared compost with the children, planted seedlings, and then met the steppe surrounding the farm.
Compost Making at Binbir Çiçek Farm
Our activity starts with preparing compost with the children. Composting is a lot of fun. It not only teaches children how soil is formed, but also gives them the opportunity to realize the importance of naturally prepared fertilizer in life.
For this purpose, we first gathered around the area designated for compost making. Then we start piling up the waste we have collected in layers in the compost area: Kitchen scraps, herbs, animal manure, dried leaves, sawdust, paper, cardboard. Materials such as kitchen scraps, grasses, and animal manure are rich in nitrogen; these are called "green" materials. Materials such as dried leaves, sawdust, paper and cardboard have high carbon content and are called "brown" materials. In order for the decay and disintegration process to begin, these two materials must come together in the right proportion.
Do it yourself at home:
Did you know there are many ways to compost? You can make a little compost in your garden or even on your balcony. Fill a slightly larger pot with soil. Dig into the soil and add some fruit/vegetables and tea/coffee residue. Then cover it with soil. After a month, you can plant your plant in the ground and watch it grow.
We Grow Our Seedlings
One of the enjoyable activities of the day is planting seedlings. After covering our compost pile, we move on to the seedling planting area with the children. Any child who wishes can plant tomato, pepper and cucumber seedlings in the soil prepared for them. Children love to dig in the ground with their hands and feet. Bringing their own seedlings into the soil offers children a great opportunity for this.
Did you know that, according to studies, children who engage in gardening have higher academic success? Spending time in the garden develops teamwork and communication skills in children. Planning a garden, planting seeds, and watching plants grow gives children a sense of goal setting and responsibility. Making sure plants get enough fertilizer, water and sun helps create conscious awareness.
Do it yourself at home
Seeing plants grow in the garden might encourage children to ask questions: Why do plants need sun? How do plants “drink” water? Why are worms good for plants? These questions will soon be followed by other topics such as soil composition and photosynthesis, so be prepared! You can even do a little math by measuring how big the plants are getting from week to week or counting the flowers on each plant.
Thanks to concepts learned while gardening, such as composting food scraps to make fertilizer or using rainwater for irrigation, our children develop a deep respect for our planet and can demonstrate responsibility for protecting it. Most importantly, the joy of a child eating the delicious cucumber he or she has grown is priceless.
Life on the Steppe
Thousand Flower Farm is located in an area surrounded by the steppes of Ankara. We take a short nature walk with the children in the natural steppe area surrounding the garden. During this trip, children have the opportunity to closely meet the typical plants and small creatures of the steppe ecosystem. Before we start the walk, we talk about what a nature explorer should be:
A nature explorer is silent during exploration, does not make noise and thus does not scare away any living creature. In nature, he is always careful and attentive. First of all, he uses his senses, always looking around and listening.
During our exploration walk, we need to act very carefully to protect ourselves from the thorns of plants native to the steppe. While trying to protect yourself from the thorns of plants, it is surprising to notice the variety of insects that live on them. It is exciting, entertaining and instructive for children to follow the grasshoppers as they jump away, to examine the nest holes skillfully plastered by spiders, trying not to step on them, to see how a mistletoe envelops a tree and dries it out, to examine a molehill in our path.
At Thousand and One Flower Farm…
Every week we will play with insects and learn with them at Binbir Çiçek Farm. We will do some observation and some counting. Then we will build an insect hotel for them. To protect our children from the sun and the thorns of the typical steppe vegetation during these activities, we ask that you wear long-legged trousers, long socks and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and send sunscreen and a hat with them. For your children who want to come with dresses or shorts, we hope you have put tights in their bags.
We wish you all a nice day surrounded by nature...
