By Tara Rappleye, Program Director

Girl Scout Daisy Troop #4593 isn’t letting the wet autumn weather keep them from working on their Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden Journey. After attending the Flower Garden Friendships event at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, troop co-leader Lisa B. was inspired to approach the Journey in a different way.

During the event this past October, Troop #4584 was fully engaged as they made their own garden to take home, explored the arboretum’s garden, and learned about flowers. In addition to staying engaged with many hands-on activities, the girls also completed the Watering Can award of It’s Your World-Change It! Journey. The girls just loved it.

After noticing her girls’ enjoyment of the hands-on activities, it dawned on Lisa that winter isn’t prime time to grow a flower garden. But that didn’t stop her – Lisa decided to go back to the basics…SOIL.  Lisa led her troop on a journey about the different types of soil and what elements contribute to healthy soil. With the knowledge of soil under their tunics, these Girl Scout Daisies decided it was time to make their own.

Yes, that’s right.  Their own SOIL.

A huge part making healthy soil is composting. And a huge (well maybe not physically) part of composting is WORMS.  The troop decided each girl would undertake her own compost bin with worms at her home – thanks for the awesome support, troop parents! After one incident of a sibling being put in a bin followed by a conversation on what should and should not go in a bin, Daisy Troop #4584 was ready for worms.

In early November, Lisa gathered the girls together to distribute their composting worms. She plopped the bucket of worms on the table and let the girls learn and explore. The girls were encouraged to pick out their own 12 worms and play with them a little. The girls showed their compassion as they helped pick out worms for their friends who weren’t quite fans of the little critters.

The girls now are waiting patiently for composting process to start in their bin. In the meantime many are enjoying their new pets, some of which live inside and others in the garage. Once the girls’ soil has composted, they plan use the soil to plant herbs for a take action project. They will harvest the herbs to share as a gift to those living in a retirement home in the area.

Lisa has loved watching the girls get their hands dirty as they learn to care for their planet. Even though the girls aren’t taking care of a garden, they are working to create healthy soil for spring planting all while caring for creatures of the garden.

If your Girl Scouts want to grow their own flowers, Lisa said she would encourage other Girl Scouts – NC Coastal Pines’ troops to wait until spring to start this Journey. However, Lisa and her Troop are LOVING the wiggly way their Journey has taken them.