Harvest Party

Congratulations to all JMG participants!

3rd year of the Mower County Junior Master Gardeners was a success! This year produce was healthy and abundant. Produce was grown for the harvest party that happened Thursday September 2. JMGer's talked about a product from the garden and showcased their hard work over the past summer.

Meal served was Honey Roasted Root Vegetables, Garden Minestrone, and the ever so popular Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies. The pumpkin patch was invaded by the youth whom each got to take one home.

We are looking forward to next year and the winter season ahead!

We prepare for the fair!

It was quite an adventure last week at our gardening sessions! Jen had her groups making Watermelon smoothies. The blender was going, kids were cutting and juice was everywhere! Nothing beats a smoothie on a hot day. A few feet away Ruth had another group cutting up the yellow zucchini from the garden. This group was steaming zucchini and learning how to use it. The youth really seem to enjoy their sessions with Jen and Ruth!

The youth always have plenty of produce to pick from the garden each week. All the vegetables get weighed once they are picked and we are keeping track of how much produce we have grown. It will be exciting to add everything up at the end of the season. Everyone is doing a great job of keeping the weeds out and making sure everything is watered.

Yesterday we had a smaller group of kids than normal. Ruth and Jen couldn't be with us so we had all the kids in the garden picking vegetables, weighing, and logging totals. Master Gardeners, Pam and Shirley, are with us each week and they explain lots of gardening tips to the kids. The youth are able to take home lots of information to use in their own gardens.

The rest of our time yesterday was spent hanging posters and pictures of the kids and activities that we have done throughout the summer. We hope everyone will stop by to see the youth who have been part of our Junior Master Gardener program. Please look at the garden as well. Hopefully you will know someone who would like to be part of this wonderful program!!

Enjoy the Mower County Fair!!

Fruit Frenzy

The JMG group has another successful day at the garden and the rain stayed away!

Megan and the 4-H Ambassadors made Fruit Pomanders with the JMG session. The kids really got into it and some even knew why they are used!

In another session Jen made Citrus Salad using lettuce and spinach from the garden while Ruth demonstrated the textures, tastes and smells of fruit.

We'll continue our learning journey again next week....

Let's Jam

Our theme for July 15 was "Let's Jam." Master Gardener, Elaine Braaten, did just that with the kids. With the raspberries from her home, she demonstrated how to make jam. Everyone was able to take home a yummy sample!

While some kids were busy making jam another group was making Colorful Fruit Salad with Jen. Youth learned how to cut up fruit and how to use the juices from the fruit. The completed salad looked delicious. Hopefully the kids have tried the recipe at home!

The JMG session learned the methods of preserving foods. Freezing, Dehydrating and Canning methods were discussed. Patty brought in canned foods for the kids to look at. The youth tried canned Strawberry Jam and Tomato Juice and sampled some dehydrated foods.

Youth harvested green beans, lettuce, zucchini, swiss chard and kolhrabi from the garden. Some of the kids were taking the produce to sell at the Farmer's Market. Each week we are able to see how different the garden looks and we are amazed at how it is producing. The best part of this program is watching the kids grow and learn. These are valuable lessons that will last a lifetime!!

The garden is growing and producing beautifully! Master Gardeners, Shirley and Pam, had the kids pick peas, kohlrabi, and spinach. A few kids washed up the produce for Megan to take to the Farmer's Market. After the 2 in 1 garden was harvested the plants were pulled up, the soil was worked and it was replanted, hence the name 2 in 1. While some of the youth worked in the garden others were learning how to make salsa in the kitchen with Jen. Our 4-H summer intern, Megan, had her groups make ice cream in a bag. This was a huge hit with the kids! While kids were finishing up their ice cream the JMG groups made scarecrows in the garden. We all had lots of fun and look forward to the next session!

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

You're Invited - Spring Open House

Mark your calendar for Monday, May 24th, 5-7 p.m.
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We have to start now to grow those August tomatoes. Bring the whole family for a taste of hands-on activities and information about our upcoming series of summer garden sessions, Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon. Our summer sessions are for youth entering 3rd-12th grade, with volunteer opportunities available for parents (and younger siblings welcome if supervised).

This year's garden is a collaboration of University of Minnesota Extension programs, HyVee, and Austin Public Schools Community Education, and we are grateful to our many other supporters and sponsors.

See you Monday, May 24th, 5-7 p.m.

Why We're Victory Growers

Shannon, Olivia, and Nathan gathered at the Extension office for four and a half hours Monday and today to select photos from our two summer gardens and produce a video. They worked as a team and did an awesome job. Look how far the garden has come!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The video was submitted in the "Food Independence Day" contest, which was looking for examples of projects that empower youth "to cultivate healthy lifestyles by growing and eating fresh, whole foods."