Growing Project Bears Fruit At Boys And Girls
NEWARK, Del. The straw
covered paths between garden
rows are dry and dusty, and the
plants small for August.
Four kids huddle around the
watermelon plant they have
adopted as Jay Windsor, exten
sion agent for horticulture at the
University of Delaware, (UD)
says, “There are no blossoms on
this plant. Why not?”
A 10-year-old boy replies, “No
water. We need rain.”
“Right,” Windsor confirms.
Just four weeks ago this
exchange could not have taken
place, since the 9 to 12-year-olds
involved in the Thurman Adams
and Ed Ralph Agricultural
Education Project knew very lit
tle about growing plants. And
this is in an area well known for
its agriculture - Sussex County,
Delaware.
The 80 kids involved in the
project, a joint effort between
the Boys and Girls Club of
Sussex in Georgetown and UD’s
College of Agriculture and
Natural Resources, attend the
club’s summer enrichment pro
gram. The garden is behind the
building that houses the youth
center.
“In June before we started in
the garden, I asked these kids
where sweet corn comes from,
and they answered, “a can” or
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“the supermarket,” said Mark
Isaacs, director of the UD
Research and Education Center
in Georgetown. “But because of
what we are doing here, these
youngsters will go away at the
end of summer with a better
appreciation of where their food
comes from as well as the time
and work involved in growing
it.”
Isaacs believes in this project,
which is named in honor of
Adams, a current state senator,
and Ralph, a former secretary of
agriculture, because of their con
tribution to agriculture in the
First State.
The idea originally was that
of John Hollis, a Sussex County
farmer who was instrumental in
establishing the Boys and Girls
Club in Georgetown. He
approached Isaacs about han
dling the agricultural education
project, which is in its second
year. And Isaacs has plenty of
volunteers.
In addition to Windsor, there
is Brian Hearn, a college student
who helped Isaacs with the
growing project last summer,
and tilled and planted this gar
den in May. Another contributor
to the success of the project is
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George Sparrow.
“Plants have to go in before
the kids are out of school, so we
start the garden,” said Isaacs.
The project, which began in
mid-June, ended the third week
in August, with lessons present
ed once a week. The first part of
each lesson took place in the
classroom and lasted 15 to 20
minutes. First Isaacs took the
kids through a review of the last
week’s information; then he
introduced a new topic. This les
son was photosynthesis and
chlorophyll. The first week was
devoted to soil, mulch and com
post; the second week, Isaacs
discussed water and germina
tion.
The remainder of each class
was spent in the garden, where,
using a yardstick, the young
sters measured the growth of
their plants. A group of four kids
adopted one plant each of lima
beans, sweet corn, squash and
watermelon. Orange stakes
beside each plant indicated
which group is responsible for
which plants.
The kids recorded date and
measurements - both height
and width - in a notebook.
Eventually, they will plot the
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plants’ growth over the nine
weeks. Now that the growing
part of the project is complete,
the youngsters will input their
data into a computer at the Boys
and Girls Club. This fall, learn
ing about spreadsheets and
graphing results will be the sec
ond phase of the project.
The adopt-a-plant idea was
Windsor’s.
“It gives the kids ownership,
and they stay interested,” he
said. “It hasn’t been a good grow
ing season, but that’s the reality
of farming and the kids will
leam from this experience, too.”
Before they returned to
school, the novice gardeners har
vested and ate their bounty,
which Isaac said the kids “take
pride in and get real satisfac-
Mifflin County 4-H
(Continued from Page B 12)
Brethren Sunday School class.
Becky once served as cook for
the Head Start program and
continues to work with Head
Start as a substitute.
“It was nice being able to
work with older kids,” Becky
said of the Junior Leaders. “It
was a learning experience. I
want to tell the kids to keep up
the good work. It can change
their future.”
Several 4-H leaders spoke at
the banquet. They will be
attending the Northeast
Regional Leaders Forum in
Maine this month. JoAnn
Lindsey, Elsie Shaffer, and
Elaine Wagner spoke of their
previous trips and encouraged
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 18, 1999-815
Club
tion” from eating something
they have grown. They also par
ticipated in a final bowl-type
contest. In this way the 20 teams
showed how much they learned.
“It’s a great time. The kids
have fun competing in the bowl,”
said Isaacs. “Last year, I was
amazed at how much they had
retained over the course of the
summer.”
Next year, said Isaacs, he and
his team will start again, teach
ing a whole new group of young
sters about agriculture.
“It’s important that they
understand just how their food
is grown,” he said. “These kids
know firsthand because they
have done it. They won’t soon
forget.”
leaders to attend leaders confer
ences.
“I thought all 4-H clubs were
like our clubs,” Wagner said.
“But so many counties handle
things differently. There are
counties that have tumbling
clubs and clover bud clubs. I
encourage all of you to go to the
leaders forums.”
Members of the 4-H Junior
Leaders planned the banquet,
which was free to leaders and
presented certificates and pins
to leaders for their years of ser
vice. Receiving pins were Rosalie
Baumgardner and John Shaffer
(one year), Beth Rearick (five
years), Darv Yoder (10 years),
Tim and Vale Fisher (15 years),
and Helen Krick (30 years)