An Oasis in the garden

An Oasis in the garden 

The new water garden is coming to life in the biodynamic garden. The idea for this came out of our 'water wise' conservation concerns: there are abundant ‘overstory’ trees, yet we need to run an irrigation system for around 100 days a year.  Sandra Frain and her team wanted to provide more natural water as moisture for the cultivated plants and animal life, to help the garden be more self-sufficient in the many times it needs to be untended.

With a gifted fibreglass form, we imagined an ‘oasis heart’ in the centre of the garden! A shaded space for people to be nourished and replenished, alone and together: visioning a place of wellbeing for all. So together with students from Classes 3, 4, 5 and 6 we got to work with gusto. First we dug out old rotting timber from the site, making that into a base for the next compost heap. The students enjoyed harvesting garlic they'd planted in earlier seasons and transplanting chamomile to elsewhere in the garden.

Then using spades and mattocks, ever-changing teams of students were delighted to dig the big hole needed to fit the form. They dug through the rich black soil until they found gorgeous golden clay, which required more strength and patience to excavate. The students had to measure the fibreglass form, fit it into the ground, and learn how to properly stabilise the structure as they backfilled - supported by a ring of nice old bricks they found and arranged. There was much excitement as gushing water finally filled the form, and water plants were brought in from the Class 4 water garden barrel. Already the next day red dragonflies were hovering above the indigenous water grasses, and the oasis invitation to nature and students was being accepted.

Sandra and the team were really impressed by what the students accomplished in just 5 weeks with all the gardening classes working happily on this project! The students arriving for these classes now stream in through the gates and head straight for the water garden at the centre, to look and dabble and take a quiet moment in this lovely place they're making together.