Future organic gardeners of America! We enjoyed having Kraft YMCA’s Summer Camp E come to the garden this morning for a field trip during Nature Week at the Y. These elementary school kids were immersed in the tools, crops, and maintenance tasks needed to operate a community garden, and by all accounts, had fun doing it. One of the counselors said this was the best field trip they have had all summer!

After talking together about what we do and why, they were given a quick lesson in all the tools and what they are used for, followed by a walk-about to see if they could identify various vegetables “in the wild.” All of us were treated to an amazing display of pollinators swarming all the blooming pollinator plants and learned why we want to protect them (no pesticides!). They got their hands dirty doing a little weeding (one whole row!), and then they planted their own little pots of sunflowers and zinnias to take home and care for. This all led up to the moment they were all waiting for: harvesting and eating one of the sweet, juicy watermelons! This was followed by a watermelon spitting contest, of course.