A Day in the PKLG

Cynthia Lynn shares about her experience with the after-school programming in the Patrick Kaufman Learning Garden.

The Patrick Kaufman Learning Garden is an unexpected oasis. Walking onto any of the Farms’ sites tucked into the folds of Franklinton feels like stumbling into a secret, but the Learning Garden has a particular magic.

It has berry bushes, little hideaways, a pavilion with a brick oven, and (my personal favorite) a bat box to attract those incredible pollinators. When I’m in the Learning Garden, I have an urge to check behind my shoulders and catch a glimpse of the fairies that must live there. It’s a corner of serenity in the middle of the city, and it’s most magical when it’s filled with children.

This week, I helped our Education Coordinator, Brett, with after-school programming in the Learning Garden. It was cold, the garden was muddy, and a high school volunteer named Charlie and I stood with our hands buried in our coat pockets while Brett explained what we would be doing. He had assembled an activity for the youth to smell different greens and ingredients, including mint, maple syrup, sage, coffee, and more; and he’d prepared flatbread dough in advance for the kids to make pizzas. I was so enchanted by the projects as an adult that I couldn’t help imagining the excitement my childhood self would have felt. Suddenly, I didn’t have to imagine anymore. The gate opened, and the children came running through.

They were starry eyed about many things. A girl at the front of the pack yelled, “Look! There’s a girl this time!” when she saw me. They were allowed to make pizza and tea however they wanted to. They were able to recognize some of the scents, like garlic, but were stumped by others, like vanilla extract. Either way, they threw their heads back and hugged their sides when they heard the answers. They looked the most thrilled, though, when they were running around the garden, harvesting small handfuls of mint from the high tunnels, using tree stumps as an obstacle course, playing hide and seek.

The green space opened like a picture book to welcome them, to give them the room they need to grow along with the plants around them, to encourage them act on their curiosities, to be kids.