Junior Master Gardeners Camp

We had a blast last week teachings kiddos around the community about plants and gardening. Linda Halsey, a master gardener from Abbeville, and also one of the coordinators for Seaboard Jardin Maravilloso, developed an impressive schedule of events for our four-day camp. It was clear that our kids had a great time, not only because of their enthusiasm during the camp, but also because our group grew from 13 to 24 students over the course of week! Here's a recap of what our junior master gardener campers did each day:

Monday the campers worked on terrariums to take home as Linda discussed the layers in the terrarium and related this to the earth's crust. They also had their first tour of the community garden and were very excited to see what's currently ripening: turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, green beans and some beatiful herbs. Some were even brave enough to try (and admit that they liked!) green beans and herbs right off the plant.

Tuesday campers learned first-hand the best part about gardening: using and eating what you grow! After a trip to the community garden to gather herbs from the herb bed and explore a bit, we headed back to La Puerta where the kids rotated through three stations to use their herbs. They enjoyed making scented lotions to take home, making and trying pesto (yum!), and also experimenting with making mayonnaises with different flavors. Many got their first taste of fresh herbs like rosemary, oregano, parsley, basil, chives and mint. It was impressive how adventurous many of them were toward trying new things. I even "caught" several of them sneaking to grab some more green beans to munch on when we were gathering our herbs!

Linda explains how to harvest herbs from the herb bed.

Jose collects basil for the pesto.

Carmen helps water some thirsty peppers.

Linda teaches students how to make mayonnaise.

Darlene works with students to add crushed herbs to their hand lotions.

Lynsey talks with campers about the pesto they're about to make.

These boys had mixed reactions about their first pesto experience!

Wednesday campers took a closer look at plant and insect structure. Linda provided them with a number of samples of leaves and some specimen she brought from her own yard- cicadas, dragonflies, a praying mantis, caterpillars, and much more for campers to examine. Master gardener Ginny Wilson talked about beneficial insects and pests, as well as insect anatomy as students used magnifying glasses to examine them and then draw and label their favorites. At our second session, Linda discussed plant structure while students investigated their samples. The kids then made colorful, beautiful plant rubbings from the leaves that were framed for them to take home.

Jackson "experiments" with the magnifying glass!

Alan thought his palm was a bit more interesting than the leaves.

The girls examine a rather active praying mantis.

Students work on their leaf-rubbings to take home.

Our wonderful campers with their art work.

Thursday, our final day of camp, encouraged our campers to get their hands dirty. USDA employee Elyse Benson entertained and educated 24 kids on soil structure. Students were able to use soil identification books to match different "ped" samples (a new vocab word we learned for a hunk of dirt!), as well as investigate soil composition by sifting through some soil to separate the rock from the soil. Finally, she discussed varying soil texture, allowing campers to wet different types of soil in their hands and feel the difference between a clay soil and a sandy soil. We finished the day with a tour of the Festival of Flowers topiaries in Uptown Greenwood. Many students were excited to see their schools represented with topiaries, such as turtles "Sunny" and "Ray" near the Federal Building.

Elyse Benson begins the soil demonstration.
It's pretty impressive that she kept 24 kiddos captivated!

Edgar helps some campers match their "ped" to the correct sample
in the identification book.

Campers help Elyse to seperate the soil from the rock using a sifter.

Elyse demonstrates how to wet the soil so that they can feel the texture on their palms.

Alan enjoyed this demonstration.

Our campers in Uptown checking out the topiaries.

Overall we had a fantastic week and are so thankful to Linda Halsey and the many other volunteers who stopped in to help with our first gardening camp. Check out more photos to the right or visit our Facebook page ("Seaboard Jardin Maravilloso") to see these albums, as well as many more, and to keep up to date on garden events!