Last spring, Lower Elementary students planted birdhouse gourd seeds along part of the fence of their outdoor classroom. The seeds were quite successful, yielding around 20 gourds! Our current Lower Elementary students harvested the gourds and pruned their stems and leaves during autumn, and the gourds rested and dried out over the winter.
Now that spring has arrived, approaching a full year since the seeds were planted, students have begun preparing the gourds to be used as birdhouses. Students cleaned and scraped the gourds, and with Ingrid’s assistance, they began using various handheld tools to carve holes in the gourds. Once the holes were carved, students began gutting the gourds and sorting through the seeds inside, counting them out and bagging them in groups of ten. Our class counted and bagged over three thousand gourd seeds! Students also helped attach labels to the bags. These seeds will be distributed throughout the community.
As for the gourds themselves, they are currently in the process of being painted and decorated. Our students have decided to give some of the gourds to next year’s incoming first graders, some to our neighbors on Westgate Drive, and to place the rest of them around school grounds.
And, of course, students will also be planting another crop of birdhouse gourds before the school year is over!
