Renaissance Herb Garden

Herbs were commonly used during the Renaissance, for many different reasons. The children already knew that herbs were not only used for eating, but also to help certain maladies. What they will soon learn is that they were also used to scent the air, and were believed to protect from/ward off diseases. Certain herbs were also spread on the floor to keep down vermin or fleas or just to mask odor from the room. They kept clothing fresher, and were placed in linens to keep away moths. And, of course, they were put in soaps and hair washes for their pleasing smell. We will discover all of this next week, as we continue our study of the Renaissance.

Today, Saul (a 5th grader from Renata’s class) was our wonderful leader and helped us plant our herb garden. It is lovely to have other children be the teachers – and I think Saul enjoyed this lesson nearly as much as our 1st and 2nd graders. We planted 6 different types of herbs, and these will be used in the preparation of the feast of Curious Epicures, and will also be used as some sort of decoration (either strewn on the floor as they did back then, or perhaps as tabletop displays).

I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of your children doing this special Science Friday project – but I was elbow deep in potting soil and didn’t get a chance!

If you see Saul in the hallway, be sure to thank him for taking time from his own classroom in order to help the little ones.