Farming can't wait for flood recovery. We learn to adapt and keep growing.
Above: our Cherokee council house-inspired kitchen/classroom/pavilion
Below: view to the north from a tree-stand, 70 ft. high in the tallest pine on the mountain.
Headwaters Learning is a multi-disciplinary, extracurricular, environmental education center for students of all ages on the headwaters of the Etowah river, seven miles west of Dahlonega, GA. Through hands-on activities in the gardens, trails, river, woodshop, and in a kitchen/classroom/pavilion for up to 40 participants, students learn to make methodical observations in the garden and in the wild, conduct experiments, and propose solutions to problems and revisions in a thinking process of continuous improvement. Thinking processes should transfer to the students' home environments too, so that everywhere becomes a headwaters for learning.
Gardening for Ideas
Gardening is never a perfect formula due to unpredictable variables like weather, insects, and diseases, so there are always opportunities for unique observations, research and ideas for improving methods. In the pavilion, students share observations, discuss challenges, and collect new data and past research (using apps like Globe Observer and iNaturalist), and conduct experiments. Daily weather and garden observations and responses are a simple, yet long-term way of thinking that forms a kind of a thinking-flow template the students' home learning environments as well. More on the thinking-flow here.
Woodworking, cooking, Japanese language and culture, nature walks, trail-building, birding, fishing, canoeing, and reading discussions in history and literature offer more ways to strengthen independent thinking processes.
Sun setting in the southwest next to the kitchen/classroom/pavilion in late January
The woodworking activities always have access to plenty of salvaged materials from Joe's construction company and students are encouraged to think of ways to use the materials on their own home projects as well. A seventy-foot high tree stand made from repurposed materials in the highest tree on the mountain is an adventurous student's "must climb" (with safety ropes of course!) for anyone wanting to see the 360 degree view of the mountains where the Appalachian Trail goes through north Georgia and many backpackers begin their journey "walking with Spring" from Springer Mountain.
Planning for a monthly four-course garden dinner in the pavilion offers one of the most challenging multi-disciplinary thinking exercises. Students assist Sayuri in the planning and managing of a dinner for forty people using traditional Appalachian and Japanese cooking -- what regular customers call "Jappalachian" cuisine. Readings in Japanese history and culture as well as hands-on activities offer unique perspectives for exploring the world further in discussions and writing exercises. The traditional learning season begins during the first week of February, but students can join anytime during the year through the end of November.
Turkey hens in a portable pen designed and built using repurposed decking boards. Three other pens are built for chicken hens in a "chicken-tractor" (for some reason, chicken hens work the ground much more than turkey hens.) Students can design, construct, and decorate their own pens to take home and/or sell.