Extension garden club gives growing basics to area children

A new summer program allows students to grow fruit, vegetables and a healthy serving of knowledge along the way.

Iowa State Extension and Outreach Franklin County recently began offering a garden club for students in fourth through eighth grade at the garden area at Hampton-Dumont Middle School.

Led by H-D-CAL alums Emma Sackville and Anika Miller, the class teaches students the ins-and-outs of gardening, from planting to harvesting.

“It’s all about teaching kids how to garden and gives them experience what it’s like starting a garden, planting and then harvesting all the stuff,” said Sackville.

Thanks to funding from the 5-2-1-0 Program, which awarded the Hampton area with $25,000 to be used on various health and wellness projects in the community, the Extension office and the H-D district collaborated to add several raised garden beds at the middle school.

Sackville, who built the beds, along with Miller, said the additional beds allow students in the program to plant a variety of fruits and vegetables including pumpkins, corn, watermelon and much more. She said students enjoy the array of plants because they may not have the opportunity to grow them outside of the class.

“Things like the pumpkins and watermelons take up a lot of space so they probably won’t plant those at home because they don’t have room in their gardens,” she said. “It’s cool to let the kids plant those so they can see how much room it takes and what the plants turn out to be.”

She added that the variety of plants is beneficial to the students’ gardening learning, as each plant requires a different method of care.

“We teach them about spacing, looking at the packet and seeing how far down to plan the seeds and as the plants start to grow, we’ll talk about thinning them down and how to harvest each one,” she said.

The class is separated into three groups and each one meets once a week. Groups are kept to fewer than 10 people, including the instructors, in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Students are asked to wear masks and all tools are sanitized regularly.

While the class has to be conducted with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, students have enjoyed the chance to once again participate in an activity outside of the home.

“It’s nice to get outside and have fun,” said Sylvie Morton.

Although the program provides the seeds, the tools and the plots, Sackville said the knowledge students receive is something that not only helps them participate in the class, but will be a skill they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“It allows the kids to get that knowledge of how to start a garden and what they need to do to keep plants alive,” she said. “That’s cool because they can take that through the rest of their life if they ever want to do a garden anywhere.”