Our school garden -
23 years of gardening

The Frauenwaldschule Bad Nauheim/ Nieder-Mörlen is an elementary school with mixed ability classes. Currently we teach over 400 students from the age of 6 to 12:
In 1985 the first idea of a school garden came up. More than 10,000 sqm of lawn should been used wiser and ecologically worthwhile not only as playground but as part of the classes. It was considered as a great opportunity for students to learn more about nature and environment while contributing in the conservation of the natural habitat of many plants and animals.

Since 22 years our students, their parents, our caretaker, our teachers, and the school administration have successfully transformed the former lawn into a rich garden for vivid and activity-based classes in social studies and biology.
 

Learning outside

Our school garden is more than a nice area around the school buildings; it is a classroom. Instead of learning about nature and environment only from books our students experience nature live under the sky in a tangible and understandable way.

Consistent care

The most important part of every project is the consistent and responsible tending of the school garden. The garden is a significant part of our school’s program that influences the school life throughout the year. It culminates in the “school market” in September where students and parents sell the goods of the school garden aside local farmers, organic community stores and flower shops. Their booths are spread over the schoolyard and attract hundreds of people with honey of the school’s apiary, homemade cakes, fresh squeezed apple juice, wooden goods, arts and crafts.

1987
Wild flowers meadow

Originally, the school buildings were surrounded by huge short-mowed grasslands. In 1987 these grasslands became a wild flowers meadow. It does not only look nicer but offers an ideal diet for butterflies, bugs, small insects and birds. Our farmers also value the higher variety of the wild flowers meadow and gladly take the hay to feed their animals. The meadow is mowed twice a year. Our students are partly involved in raking the dried grass. Throughout the year they discover flora and fauna while lying in the grass and seeing, hearing and smelling the different plants and animals.

1988
Biotope for birds – the bird conservation hedge

Our students love birds. Therefore, they planted a 25m (82’’) long bird conservation hedge in 1988. It consists only of local hedge plants that our domestic birds and insects need for nutrition and habitat.

1990
Dry stone wall

Our School garden was continously in progress. In 1990 teachers, students and parents began to build a 12 m long dry stone wall. Near the school’s pond there are over 34 tonnes of stones: basalt, limestone, and slate from different quarries.

It is a paradise for reptiles and insects, and a wonderful place to observe nature. The dry stone wall with its holes offers shelter and perfect living conditions for toads, shrews, salamanders, lizards, and many insects. It saves heat of the sun that is essential for many animals.

1990
Meadow with scattered fruit trees

In the same year in which the dry stone wall was constructed we planted more than 30 fruit trees in the meadow. Together students, parents, and teachers excavated holes for the trees, punched in poles and implanted the trees. They only chose local species like apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, plum trees, mirabelles as well as a walnut tree.

To tend the trees by themselves our students attended several workshops about tree-cutting.

 1991

Open classroom

1992
Herbal helix

The pride of all students is a large herbal helix near the school’s pond. It is an ideal place for a huge variety of herbal plants. It’s raising helix shape and different soil zones offer the best conditions for many different plants. From bottom to top there are the aquatic zone preferably close to a small pond, the humid zone, regular zone and the arid zone with lavender, rosemary and sage.

The students tend the herbals in classes, taste and smell their flavor, describe their appearance and use them to season food they prepare in class.

1992
Pile of stones and pile of wood