We have cattails growing in our swale, and for a long time I looked at them mostly as “the wetland plant”.

We have cattails growing in our swale, and for a long time I looked at them mostly as “the wetland plant”.

Then I read Braiding Sweetgrass, and I started seeing them differently.

Cattails can open so many doors in a morning with children. We can begin simply by meeting them near the water, touching the long leaves, observing the spike, noticing the male and female parts, watching the insects that visit, and thinking about the animals that find shelter there.

Then, little by little, the encounter grows.

We can talk about wetlands, roots, water, sediments, and soil. We can make simple jar experiments to observe the different layers of soil, notice how water carries particles, and explore how roots can help filter water, making it cleaner for other living beings while the plant receives nutrients.

We can also weave with the leaves, learn about traditional plant uses, speak about care, gratitude, and reciprocity, and begin to see that a plant is never “just a plant”. It can be habitat, filter, material, food for some beings, presence, relationship, system.

This is what I love about Alo Lira: Garden Explorers: one small thing in the garden can become science, art, permaculture, history, ecology, handwork, and philosophical conversation.

It all begins with an encounter.

In August, we will have a few selected morning sessions for children, in small groups, here at Alo Lira, in Salir do Porto.

If you would like your child to join us, send me a message and I’ll share the details.