Children’s
Mitzvah Garden: An Outdoor Classroom
Winner of
Excellence in Landscape Design Award from the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association, 2005
The
director of the Mary Bert Gutman Early Learning Center wanted
a garden where her 2- to 5-year-old students could engage
in hands-on learning about the mitzvah (Hebrew for “commandment”)
of caring for the earth and – through income from the
garden’s produce – the mitzvah of “tzedakah,”
or giving charitably. As
a classroom space, the garden needed seating. For ease-of-use,
it needed to bring a water source nearby. For its young gardeners,
it needed appropriate scale. These considerations came together
with a unique design that we devised. PVC pipe creates seating
at the right height for the children, segments the garden
into spaces that don’t overwhelm the children, and provides
a reservoir for water brought in from a distant source via
hose, maintaining the water at air temperature so it won’t
burn small hands. The children use bilge pumps – the
type used on boats – to pump water out of the pipes
as needed. The pump holes are closed with secure stoppers
when not in use to preserve the cleanliness of the water.The
garden has yielded fresh vegetables and beautiful cutting
flowers which the students have harvested and then sold to
their parents for use at their families’ Sabbath dinners
(observing the Sabbath being another mitzvah). Not only do
they get to appreciate the earth’s yield in this way,
and add pleasure to their Sabbath experience, they also earn
money that they donate to feed the hungry – fulfilling
another mitzvah. In
the Summer Newsletter of the Federation Early Learning Services
(which encompasses Gutman Center), the Children’s Mitzvah
Garden is described as “the most exciting … event
this summer.” |
