Second Saturdays at the Garden

Second Saturday is an exciting and interactive program for children and parents to learn about the wonders of the plant world.  Workshops are held from 9am to noon on the Second Saturday of each month in the Bodine Visitor's Center.  Reservations are essential as the number of participants is limited.  Children ages 6 and up are invited to participate with adult accompaniment and there is a $5 per person fee to cover the cost of materials.  Call 340-692-2874 to register .

September 12th- “Making Natural Dyes with Plants."
In the past, plants provided the dyes used to color fibers woven into cloth. The earliest known dyed fibers date back to 2000 B.C. in Egypt. Many plants yield colorful dyes when crushed and heated in water. What plants and plant parts can be used as dyes? In this workshop participants will visit the fiber and dye garden, learn about common plants that provide natural dyes, chose some plants and plant parts to experiment with, then try their hands at dying cloth with natural dyes made from plants.

October 10th- "Soil Sleuths."
Most plants grow in soil, and depend upon it for important nutrients and water. But what is soil, exactly? Is it the same as dirt? How important is soil to plants? In this workshop, participants will find out where soil comes from and how soil differs from just dirt, and will dig up and examine different kinds of soil to see what’s in it. Participants will then use a variety of natural ingredients to make their own soil, and use it for planting a plant to take home.

November 14th- " Making Paper from Plants."
Many plants provide fibers that can be woven into rope, clothing, or made into paper. Ancient Egyptians made paper from a plant called papyrus (the origin of our word paper). The inner part of the stems was cut into strips and laid side-by-side and over one another at right angles. Then the strips were pounded together to form a sheet of paper. In this workshop, participants will collect plants on the Garden grounds, pound them into fibers, then use the fibers to make their own beautiful, handmade paper.


Second Saturday Photos

Checking the dye bath	David Hamada shows kids the nursery	Chocolately group effort
Decorating pots with seeds	Examining thrip insects	Giving termites a taste
Inspecting scale insects	Looking at the lipstick tree	Looking for aquatic insects
Making dyes with plant materials	Melting chocolate	Melting down glycerin soap
Pouring soap in molds	Pouring soap	Putting choclate in mold
Reaction to eating termites	Scooping up aquatic insects	Showing off homemade potpourri
Adding color and scent to soap	Making paper from plants	Pouring choclate mold
Mixing up an Aztec choclate drink	Petting the caterpillar	Scooping for insects
The shirt says it all