The Youth Gardeners Committee was very busy this year even though we got off to a late start due to Hurricane Florence and school not being in session. Each group met at least five times.
With the addition of the Farm to Table group (Brigade Boys and Girls Club), we now total four groups. The other three are: Friends of the Earth (Bradley Creek School), Mystery Planters (Mary. C. Williams School) and The Kinder-Gardeners (Anderson School).
All of the projects had educational information and usually a craft designed with the theme being studied. We made bird feeders and did lifecycle studies on plants, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and pansies.
We have had conservation programs discussing how bad plastic is for our environment, with children then designing their own canvas bags with fabric markers and stencils. We also participated in the fairy gardens for the Arboretum. The lifecycle of the butterfly is always a favorite of all four groups. We start with the butterfly eggs and end with the release of the butterflies. The Farm to Table group is an older group, and they are learning all about planting vegetables and then using them in food preparation. The Youth Gardner Committee gets to teach and be creative. The programs for next year will stay in the same realm of teaching, but we are going to get together and brainstorm for new ideas on presentations. Our Committee has been given a lot of educational resources that we are hoping to be able to implement next year.