Our theme for June 17 was "The Trashy Side." Reduce, Reuse and Recycle were the three important words youth learned about. Megan had the kids build a project using recyclable materials. There were some fantastic projects to display when they were done! Junior Master Gardeners buried newspaper, aluminum cans, glass and plastic to see what would happen to each of the materials after a few weeks. Jen had kids taste testing fruits and vegetables along with discussing where to shop for nutritious foods in grocery stores. Ruth used Strawberries that were picked from the garden to make delicious Fruity Breakfast Parfaits. The kids continued to maintain the garden with the help of the Master Gardeners and had great games with the 4-H Ambassadors. We hope to see all children again this week!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Update from Master Gardener Therese Manggaard:

We had a wet day yesterday, but Elaine & I stuck it out. We had 2 youth in attendance.

We planted the celery and eggplant and did a lot of weeding. There were a few strawberries for a snack. I noticed the remaining spinach is about to bolt. It will be time to harvest that on Thursday.

We are in need of fence or trellis for the climbing beans and sweet potatoes. The whole garden is really starting to take off. It's so much fun coming back to see the changes.

-Therese

Day 1: From Mustard Greens to Hamburger Plants...

Despite the rain, we began our summer garden program with 30 kids in attendance. The kids were split into three groups according to age. We had each group attend sessions where they learned about nutrition, gardening and games. Ruth provided a great lesson on hamburger plants and made a delicious healthy snack: Mexican-Style Bean Pizza. Master gardeners Pam and Shirley assisted kids with weeding the garden and harvesting a few of the items from the 2 in 1 garden. Youth picked lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, radishes and strawberries, which were delivered to the food shelf. Mower County 4-H Ambassadors provided many fun games for the kids and helped keep them out of the rain! We wrapped up with lunch and a reminder to everyone to bring pictures next week of their gardens at home.

-Patty Conradt, JMG Leader

Gardening Rain or Shine

Watch local news coverage of our first Thursday morning garden session of the summer at kaaltv.com.

Sharing 3 Strawberries Among a Crowd

Update from Master Gardener Therese Manggaard:

We had a GREAT turnout Monday night in the Junior Garden. There were 3 Master Gardeners, 10 youth and 4 parents. If we continue having this large a crowd I'll need to have an agenda. At next Monday's worknight I'll concentrate on "Good bugs, bad bugs."

There were 3 ripe strawberries that were split and tasted, along with mustard greens. Radishes, spinach and mustard greens can be harvested on Thursday. Yum!

The eggplant and celery transplants did not survive. I stopped at a garden center Tuesday and picked up some eggplant to replace the ones that didn't make it. These plants are part of specific garden layouts from the MN Landscape Arboretum's "Veggies by the Yard" project. Read more at the Veggies by the Yard forum.



-Therese