What a great bunch of people our Occupational Therapists of the future are!In fact, I often wonder how the OT students I have taught in previous years are making out?Speaking of which I must ask James if Collette would still like to collect her bonsai plant she made in a workshop with Joy Morton a couple of years ago? I could have sold it ten times over…

I met the second group of OT students on Thursday afternoon and we followed a similar lesson plan as with the first group in terms of starting with introductions,a discussion on health and safety issues relating to nursery and gardening work and the activities we would be doing that day.We then went on a quick tour of the nursery area which also included looking at the produce of group one’s work.

After our seed cleaning and seed sowing we made some seed balls.

Click on this link for a step by step demonstration on how to make seed balls.

The purpose of this activity is to help re - vegetate native bush, work the muscles in your hands, encourage discussion/ reflection and relieve stress.

We also made some more compost.

Compost can be made using many methods and container types from a free standing heap to a tumbler system.As with most things in life ,compost will respond to the attention and time you give it.Compost works best if you put in green stuff (nitrogen rich) and brown stuff (carbon rich).Of course we are merely imitating a process which happens naturally but we can really get some great results if we put in the time and effort, click on this link for some great tips.I copied the following info from the site as one of the most common questions I am asked about compost is what can and can not be put in your compost.

Following is a chart listing common composting materials

We started off the session with an ice breaker / introductions moment using “What Kind of Tree Are You”

On the whole it seems to be a good ice breaker although I had forgotten how harsh some of the descriptions are , not to mention the huge contradictions.Mine is pretty good (Elm Tree) so of course I agree with it.I do not insist that everyone read their tree as some students may find it lame and I certainly don’t want anyone to go out on a limb!

Our next activity looked at seed cleaning.

Helen and I collected a number of plants with suitable seed from my garden which were used for the demo and they included:

Sophora micophylla

Phormium tenax

Cordyline australis

Anemanthele lessoniana

Uncinia uncinata ‘Rubra’

Pittosporum tenuifolium

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate how to clean seed from a variety of New Zealand native plants , employ finger dexterity , focus on a simple task and utilize materials that are freely available instead of purchasing expensive seed.

Our next activity looked at seed sowing.The OT students sowed some of the seeds they had cleaned and some vegetable and herb seeds which we had purchased.($2.00 per packet).Click on this link to view a step by step slideshow.

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate how to sow seed from a variety of New Zealand native plants , employ finger dexterity , focus on a simple task , and sow vegetable and herb seeds which could be grown in containers or a vege patch.

We also looked at worm farms , composting and seed balls which will be covered in my next post starring the OT students/group 2.

Ok so I have been contracted by the OT department to provide some horticulture workshops for the first year OT students.The groups are fairly large for a practical session so it is great to have Helen (Diversional Therapist) onboard as we work well together and she can help me to explain to the students how the different activities we are doing feeds into their learning.

Occupational therapists perform very important jobs in our community and if you are unsure of what this career entails the following explanation is provided by wikipedia: Occupational therapy refers to the use of meaningful occupation to assist people who have difficulty in achieving a healthy and balanced lifestyle; and to enable an inclusive society so that all people can participate to their potential in daily occupations of life.^[1] Occupational Therapists & Occupational Therapy Assistants work with a variety of individuals who have difficulty accessing or performing meaningful occupations.

Most commonly, Occupational Therapists & Occupational Therapy Assistants work with people with disabilities to enable them to maximize their skills and abilities. Occupational therapy gives people the “skills for the job of living” necessary for living meaningful and satisfying lives.^[2]

Services typically include:

• Customized intervention programs to improve one’s ability to perform daily activities.
• Comprehensive home and job site evaluations with adaptation recommendations.
• Performance skills assessments and treatment.
• Adaptive equipment recommendations and usage training.
• Guidance to family members and caregivers.^[2]

The structure of the workshops were planned with James Sunderland from Otago Polytechnic’s Occupational Therapy Department.

James and I put our heads together and decided we would do similar horticulture activities to the ones we have done over the last few years but this year we would add a strong emphasis on sustainability.

The OT students will use the sessions with Helen and I to put together some workshops which they will deliver as part of their assessment.I have agreed to nut shell some of the horticulture activities on my blog in case the students need to refresh their memories or find some of my references and resources useful for their endeavours.

I really enjoy the opportunity offered to me by the OT department. Horticulture as a form of therapy is an area I am interested in, and in fact ,I embarked on my teaching in horticulture when I was asked to teach adults with acquired brain injury when I was living in Australia and working for the Swinburne University TAFE.