Student’s learn lessons of gardening
Pierre Johnson, 6, and Danielle Stroup, 7, check out how the tomatoes are growing in the garden behind the Northeast Community Center. Though she was excited about the tomatoes, Stroup said she was most looking forward to the strawberries. “My dad will never buy them,” she said.
A new community garden has local children excited about vegetables.
The Children’s Garden, located at the Northeast Community Center on 1301 Valley Road, aims to help children 6 to 10 learn how to grow plants and about the healthy benefits of fresh produce.
Kaylie Gaskins, 6, summed up the program in one word: “Fun.”
“Because when they grow, we get to eat them,” Gaskins said. “Food is good.”
Gaskins was among the group of about 10 kids that planted edible nasturtium flowers at the community center on Wednesday.
City Park Ranger Jeff Patterson said the plants grown in the garden are fruits and vegetables more recognizable to youth, such as carrots, strawberries and chives.
“Do you guys know what radishes are?” asked Patterson, followed by a chorus of “no’s.”
“They’re kind of like hot tomatoes,” he told them.
More than $5,000 in Community Pride Grant Funds was awarded in April as seed money for the new garden. Program organizers said they used the money to purchase raised garden beds, a storage shed, compost bins and garden tools.
Shoots were started in the city’s greenhouse and then transported to the community center when the weather warmed.
Gaskins said she likes to brag about “her garden” at the community center, and the young participants are able to take fruit and vegetables home.
“I live in an apartment, so we only have a little tree with flowers,” Gaskins said.
Produce not consumed by the children will be donated to the Northern Nevada Food Bank or any other interested agencies.
For more information about the Northeast Community Center Children’s Garden, contact Peggy Nelson-Aguilar, recreation supervisor, at 334-2414.
This article appeared originally in Reno Gazette-Journal.
