Ten young teens from Kraft YMCA CILTS Camp (Campers in Leadership Training) came to the garden Tuesday morning to get their hands dirty with organic gardening. Two of the kids in this camp were here last time (June 16), and this was the third time for one of them. Following a lightning round of veggie trivia and a quick story about the garden origins and purpose, everyone took the grand tour. Then, it was time to get to work! With gloves and clippers in hand, the campers learned how to harvest different crops, tackling the raspberries, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and sun-goid tomatoes. In the end, they harvested 82 pounds of fresh produce, which went straight to the food bank!

After the harvest, the group learned about composting and how the garden makes its own compost. Hearty souls picked up pitchforks and shovels and turned most of the compost (and there was a lot to turn!). Concurrently, others trimmed all the garlic that had been drying the past couple of months.

Thanks to Anne and Chris for helping introduce these kids to the world of organic gardening. Everyone left with a souvenir Simple Gifts Garden pen, and our guess is that they slept very well that night!