12/19/2025
We’ve been out in the cold doing the unglamorous part of building an education garden: cutting back invasive bamboo and clearing what’s tangled, dense, and taking up too much space… so something new can breathe.
This is land stewardship: making room for the Ruth Martha Hayes Education Garden—a living classroom where kids can learn plants with their whole bodies: hands in soil, eyes on buds, nature treats to taste and smell, questions spilling out faster than we can answer.
Swipe through:
One wall of bamboo cleared
The clearing in action (yes… it’s a lot)
Little botanists reading together
Tiny treasures: cones, petals, gumballs
Coco showing us what wonder looks like in real time
Seed art looking like galaxies
This program started at Sarah P. Duke Gardens as a “Tot Botany” offering: multi-sensory, hands-on learning for young kids and their grownups (plant exploration, plant stories, plant time). And now it’s changing… because Duke Gardens is in the middle of major renovations. So we’re adapting—bringing Tot Botany on the road, popping up where we can, and building a longer-term home base in our own education garden.
Monica has been holding this work for TWO YEARS now—quietly building the rhythm, the relationships, and the care that makes a children’s program feel safe, joyful, and real.
And we’re grateful for the inspiration from Durham Parks & Rec’s “Muddy Boots” at West Point on the Eno: read a nature book, then go find the nature right outside your door… with shoes that can get a little dirty.
If you want to be part of the bamboo clearing days, the garden build, or future Tot Botany meet-ups, DM us or sign up through bulltanica.com.
1. Bamboo clearing — wide “before/after” feel
2. Bamboo clearing — action shot (the work)
3. Kids reading / “Tot Botany” moment
4. Nature treasures in hands (cones + flower)
5. Coco moment (joy + community)
6. Outdoor nature art (hands-on learning)
