810-Lancaater Farming, Saturday, June 21, 1997
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“Who likes bugs?” Wilbur Siegrist asked. He Is the guy with the funny hat made
from newsprint spray-painted green and decorated with a bird’s nest and bird In It.
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
BRICKERVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) “Who likes to get your
hands dirty?” Wilbur Siegrist
asked about 100 youngsters on
Tuesday.
Cheers and a wave of hands
answered in the affirmative.
That’s exactly what the particip
ants at Esbenshade’s Garden Cen
ter got to do when they attended
Kid’s Day.
They examined good bugs and
bad bugs. They listened as child
ren’s author Toni Albert explained
how to make a rain forest in a
bottle. They planted a pot of flow
ers to take home and even got to
take a few good bugs home.
“I liked the bugs best,” said
Paige Carr of Lititz.
So did a lot of other kids, but
some didn’t like them at all.
When Siegrist released a swarm
of ladybugs considered good
bugs some children shrieked
Participants at the Kid’s Day event fed the goldfish in the water illy pond display at
Esbenshades.
ids
Bugs, Dirt, Plants Fascinate Kids
and covered their faces, but others
greeted the advent with enthusias
tic yells.
Siegrist and other participants
wore hats made from crumpled
newsprint sprayed green. A bird’s
nest and a bird perched in the moss
wrapped around the hat’s brim.
Ten-year-old Ashley liked lis
tening to author Toni Albert talk
about nature and the interesting
ways to make “your own little
garden.”
“You can make a woodland gar
den from things growing wild in
the lawn and woods,” Ms. Albert
said. “People call some of these
plants weeds, but a weed is only a
plant growing where it is
unwanted. Weeds can be really
pretty plants.”
Ms. Albert suggested using con
tainers such as an old shoe or an old
tin in which to grow plants.
You can make an ecopond by
digging a hole, dropping an old dis
hpan into it, and filling with water.
But the highlight of Ms. Albert’s
talk was her instructions on how to
take a plastic green soda bottle and
turn it into a miniature rainforest
Ms. Albert planted one about
nine months ago and has never
needed to water it but it looks like
it is raining inside and the plants
are growing.
“I am going to plant one when I
get home,” several children said.
Ms. Albert’s book, “The
Remarkable Rainforest” includes
many activities for those interested
in rainforests. The book and 35
others that teach about nature and
caring for the earth by the same
author are available at bookstores.
“Good bugs are like friends,”
Siegrist said.
Children yelled out the names of
some good bugs that they knew.
These included ladybugs, ants,
praying mantis, bees, and
butterflies.
The praying mantis egg sac con
tains about 200 eggs, but not all the
orttetf'a
The free event Included an opportunity for children to
select flowers to plant In a pot to take along home with them'.
eggs will hatch. When praying
mantis are little, they eat small
bugs, but as they grow, they keep
eating larger bugs such as
grasshoppers.
You can buy good bugs to put in
your garden to make it healthier.
Soil with lots of earthworms and
good bugs is usually a good place
to grow a garden because they
make holes in the soil that helps
oxygen to enter the ground.
The good bugs eat bad bugs that
kill plants. Some of the bad bugs
are so tiny that they can barely be
seen. These include white fly and
aphids.
Jane Johnson helped the lads
plant their own gardens. She told
V
them how plants need air, water,
and food to survive.
Each child was given a fiber pot
They could select their own flow
ers from a variety of petunias, mar
igolds, dusty miller, and other
kinds. They even got a garden stick
with their name on it to mark the
flowers.
Esbenshade’s Garden Center,
546 E. 28 th Division Highway oedl
Lititz plans to bold more events f<
children. For more information,
call (717) 626-7007.
“Gardening can be a valuable
learning tool if the child is left the
responsibility to care for the
plants,” Siegrist said.
u.