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.
.
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."

Vegetable Sculptures

A little bit of the garden's produce became art at Austin's first annual Arts in the Park community event. Cabbage leaves, banana peppers, and heirloom beans combined with cherry tomatoes and toothpicks to make faces, puppets, aliens, airplanes, robots, and animals. The event was featured in the local news:

Austin News

Event lets the arts come out and play

8/31/2009 8:15:02 AM

By Jim Troyer
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN

While art may remain an elusive unknown, it was clear Sunday afternoon that Austin's Arts in the Park was a big hit.

Billed by its planners as a "first annual" event, the activities dominated Veterans' Pavilion and surrounding Community Bandshell Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Music, storytelling, drama and dance entertained the crowd from the outdoor stage, while marionettes, stories, readings and Kindermusic captivated kids and quite a few adults inside.

Twenty-one exhibitors showed off, and sold, a variety of pottery, jewelry, sculptures, quilts, crafts, stained glass and tie-die creations. Paintings included watercolors, oil, line drawing and digital art.

Bountiful Harvest

Fairgoers at the Mower County Fair (Tuesday, August 11-Sunday, August 16) can see the garden bursting with cabbages and many green tomatoes this week. With busy fair week underway, the string beans that needed to be harvested were donated to Austin's Salvation Army food shelf. However, last week, some youth gardeners sold organic jalapenos, banana peppers, peas, lettuce, and beans at the Austin Area Farmers' Market in downtown Austin. Yum! Thanks to parents and volunteers for coordinating and supervising this sale.

Dakota County Gardeners

The Junior Master Gardeners in Rosemount "meet every Tuesday through the summer to tend to their 6 x 6 plots and to learn about gardening. The group started meeting May 26 and will continue through early September.

At the beginning of the summer the group of kids, ranging in age from 8 to 13, learned about raising plants from seeds, composting and other valuable growing tips. As the summer has gone on the group also has learned about nutrition, which is this year's theme."

Click here to read the article about their group.

Zucchini Bread

Special thanks to Daryl Franklin for donating a big zucchini to our baking project. We used a recipe in Tummy Ticklers II (cookbooks are 2 for $10 from the Mower County Extension Office).

ZUCCHINI BREAD
Anni Mills, President, LeRoy Wide Awake

MIX:
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. Crisco oil

ADD:

2 c. grated zucchini
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Pour in 2 bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Today Extension.org, a national site, featured a link to this blog:
Click here to check out the story and other news from the U of M and university extension programs across the country.