Of course, the best way to get to know Crestwood's outdoor spaces is to go in person. There is nothing like hearing the birds in the woods or smelling fresh tomatoes firsthand. But if you aren't able to visit the woods and gardens in the flesh, a virtual tour is the next best thing! Below is the Fall 2016 Welcome Walk with photos. Know that fall is approaching fast, so many plants that are ripe or blooming now will soon wilt or dry up, especially after the first hard frost. Things change very quickly outside at this time of year.
There are many outdoor learning places to visit on the Crestwood school grounds, including several garden sites, wooded trails, and the apple orchard. Other nearby nature areas include Owen Park, a city conservation park with a restored prairie and maple and oak forests located on Old Sauk Road, and Kettle Pond, another city conservation area located on Old Middleton Road.
Below is some information on each outdoor learning space on our grounds and some things to investigate as you visit these places with your students. It may be helpful for them to have paper, pencil, and rulers to record their observations. The questions in bold are only suggestions for observation. You and your students will certainly come up with your own unique and interesting questions and observations!
Before you start, here is some background information on the Aldo Leopold benches, the mosaic signs, and the kiosks, all located on the school grounds in various outdoor spaces.
The Aldo Leopold Benches
There are many small simple benches throughout the Crestwood school grounds. This bench design was created by Aldo Leopold, author of “A Sand County Almanac”, a book that records the passage of seasons that Leopold observed in rural southern Wisconsin. “Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast” (from www.aldoleopold.org). Leopold lived right here in Madison and was a professor at the University of Wisconsin!
The Leopold Benches at Crestwood were built by Travis Wood (former Crestwood student) as Eagle Scout project, Al Wessel (former SEA), and Don Worel (former 4/5 teacher).
In 2010, 7 more of these benches were built and dedicated to staff who were retiring as well as volunteers who have done OE with Crestwood students for many years.
What color are the benches?
The Mosaic Signs
Each year, students at Crestwood get a chance to collaborate on mosaic signs to mark the garden and forest plots around the school. Kindergartens and 1st graders make clay tiles, 2nd and 3rd graders glaze them in a variety of colors, and 4th and 5th graders design and assemble the final mosaics. The initial round of mosaics was completed in the spring of 2012 and marked five of the school's gardens. The second round, finished in the spring of 2013, were designed to designate the various plots in the forest behind the school. (As you’ll read below, every class has been assigned a different section of the woods to take care of during their years at Crestwood.) The 2014 mosaics mark the remaining plots in the forest and the new Apple Orchard that has been planted near the parking lot.
Do you recognize any of the birds on the mosaic signs in the woods? Which birds have yellow coloring? Which birds have red coloring?
How many mosaic signs do you see in front of the school? What shapes or pictures do you see on them?
The kiosks
There are 10 kiosks on posts around the Crestwood grounds. They were purchased using funds from the Joyce Soukup Memorial fund and installed in May 2014 by volunteers from Blackhawk Church during Love Madison workday. The posts are permanent, but the content on display can be changed. Currently, the kiosks contain original artwork by Crestwood students. We are working on a plan to better weather-proof the kiosks!
How many in front of the school?
What words or pictures would you like to put on a sign for one of these kiosks?
(1) The Woods and trail system is located south of the building. This area has been part of Crestwood’s history since 1901 (when it was called Highlands/Mendota Beach School). Early PTO records mention ski jumping! In the 1980s, the main trail (between the school building and South Highlands Rd) and theater ring was installed by Sue Bohlman’s (retired 3rd grade teacher) son as his Eagle Scout project. Parent volunteers created seasonal teaching trail signs and led small groups through the woods. Parents also led restoration efforts including spring ephemeral planting and garlic mustard removal. Due to tree safety concerns, the woods area was not often used by students for several years in the mid-2000s.
View the slideshow below to see each of the mosaic signs associated with the woods plots and grade levels assigned to them!
Locate an oak tree in your plot to observe through the seasons.
Many plants in the woods have gone to seed. How are plants spreading their seeds? What evidence do you see?
If you walk down through the woods, past the classroom circle, and out into the soccer field, you’ll see some new and exciting developments since last year. Thanks to a grant from Community Groundworks, volunteers planned and installed an outdoor Living Stage against the backstop fence in spring of 2015. The stage has hosted several performances already, including many renditions of the first grade garlic mustard play (written by retired teacher Mr. Szudy and performed by his classes for many years), and live poetry readings during Poetry Night in May 2015. Along the edge of the soccer field, you’ll see some young swamp oak trees surrounded by black plastic, many young prairie plants, and, alas, plenty of invasive weeds like burdock, thistle and jewelweed. This area is an oak savannah restoration project still under development.
What kind of performance can you imagine happening on the stage?
The Prairie Sampler Garden is located in the front of the school in front of the dumpster fences. (It is sometimes fondly referred to as the “dumpster garden.”) This garden offers students an opportunity to see various prairie plants up close. Seeing these plants before or after a trip to Owen Park may help with learning plant names and identification. Project ideas include: identifying and creating labels for plants, taking photos or drawing in different seasons, phenology. (We are also planning a community art project to spruce up that fence hiding the dumpsters, so keep your eyes open at Explore Art Night to learn more about it!)
Is it a grass or flower?
How deep do you think its roots go?
What would you call this plant if you were to create a name for it? Be creative!
How many different colors or flowers do you find?
The Circle Garden located in the front lawn changes seasonally. Planting of Red Emperor tulips occurs every other year with 2nd grade students (including this school year) in the fall. This then offers an opportunity to participate in the Journey North migration program (http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tulip/index.html) the following Spring. Students track the emergence of spring bulbs from the southern United States to the north and add their own data on Crestwood’s tulip bulbs. Once the tulips have bloomed (and bulbs have been removed) the garden is planted with summer blooming flowers/crops. This year the circle garden is a forest of tomatoes! We also planted cucumbers and dill there, but the tomatoes have flourished more than anything else.
These are called “volunteer” tomatoes. Can you guess what that means?
Can you find some dill plants? What do the leaves look like compared to tomato leaves? Rub a little bit of dill on your finger and smell it! What do the dill flowers look like?
Do you see any cucumbers growing on the vine? Why do you suppose the fencing is there?
What is the circumference of this garden? Diameter?
The Butterfly Garden is a large rectangular space in the front yard with a stepping stone walkway through it. The garden contains many plants butterflies need throughout their life cycle – from larva to adult. Many plants are labeled. Monarchs raised in classrooms have been released here. This garden was created by parent volunteer and master gardener student Kim Bunke with the help of Karen Lenoch’s 2/3 class a few years ago.
If not, what do you notice that is different?
There are two especially fragrant plants you may notice – gently stroking the leaves with your hands may help you find them.
The Vegetable Gardens in the front of the building have been in existence and continuous use since the early 1990’s when Harlan Seibricht was principal. This garden space was started by parent volunteers and has grown over the years with the help of students, staff, volunteers, and the support of the CAPT. The gardens start near the picnic tables to the east of the front door and stretch the length and around the side of the building all the way to the red wall (elevator).
Garden opportunities historically were offered through a lunch recess garden club, run by parent volunteers. More recently, entire classrooms have been involved in planting and harvesting various parts of the gardens. In spring 2015, second graders started cucumber seeds in mini-greenhouses made out of milk jugs and planted them all around the front garden plots so they could harvest them for pickles in the fall as third graders. Also, fourth graders planted potatoes, beets, turnips, parsnips and carrots to mimic the gardens European settlers would have planted in the 1800s; these will be harvested for Stone Soup.
See if you can identify the vegetables in the pictures below just from looking at their leaves.
An orchard isn’t just a group of trees – it’s a whole ecosystem that needs many healthy parts to function well and produce fruit, much like a thriving school community!
There is soap hanging near the apple trees! How many bags of soap do you see? Why do you think they are there?
Do you know how many varieties of apples are growing in our orchard? What are they?
Do you see any apples growing in the orchard?
Can you find the fruit trees that don’t grow apples? What kind are they?
What kinds of plants do you see growing in front of the orchard? Can you identify any of them?
The Kinder/1st grade garden is located behind the west parking lot. This garden space was expanded over two years with the help of Blackhawk Church members on their annual “Love Madison” community service Sunday. The back garden gives easy access to K/1 classes to plant spring crops (lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes) for salad snacks in May and June. Pumpkins, corn, and beans are typically planted by kindergartners in the late spring for a fall harvest when students return to Crestwood as first graders. This is known as a “Three Sisters Garden,” and in 2016, the squash vines in ours are thriving! New this year, thanks to our Gardener-in-Residence, are raised beds along the parking lot containing tomatoes and herbs, and some edible flowers – nasturtiums and calendula - in the raised beds near the property fence. We also have a gorgeous crop of garlic curing in the shed.
Can you figure out the area of a leaf?
Different varieties of pumpkins are growing here – how many different kinds can you see?
Can you find bean plants hiding amongst the pumpkin vines?