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In The Press
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P B & J
Parents, Babies and Joys of Family Life
April 2005
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Discovery Garden open for season
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Children learn how vegetables, fruits grow
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By MELISSA MINNIX
PB&J
GODFREY - Some good things have been growing on a l-acre plot of land at La Vista Park, and we are not just talking about plants and flowers.
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Children plant seeds at the Children's Discovery Garden at La Vista Park in Godfrey. The garden is run by the Community Cultivators, a non-profit
organization. The first day open to the public is April 13. Reservations are required by calling 781-9911.
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Volunteers with Community Cultivators, a nonprofit group with its own board of directors, have been showing children how vegetables and fruits grow at the Children's Discovery Garden.
The first day the garden will be open to the public is from 3 to 5 p.m. April 13. Reservations are required. Organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, children from the Alton YWCA and
STARS, go to the garden to work and receive lessons from volunteers on organic gardening, which is basically gardening without pesticides and herbicides.
"It allows children to learn where food comes from," said Christine Favilla, volunteer president and staff supervisor of the Community Cultivators.
"Everything for the pizza doesn't come from Domino's. They have no idea how carrots grow."
Children going to the Discovery Garden also learn about composting. "It
teaches kids that stuff that is not eaten goes back into the soil," Favilla said.
"We usually do an insect lesson and the relationships that they have with the
garden," project manager Devin Peipert said. "We also explain conceptually what an organic garden is."
The garden has eight raised beds and SO Three Sisters Gardens. The
Community Cultivators rent the land from the Godfrey Park and Recreation Department.
The Three Sisters Garden is an American Indian concept of gardening. It is a
2-foot tall and 2-foot wide mound of dirt on which corn grows in the middle, beans grow up the corn stalks and squash grows on the outside. The
children are read a story, which personifies each vegetable as a sister, Favilla said. The garden has 50 of those gardens.
Peipert said the project helps children foster care for the environment.
"The kids reap the fruits of their labor," he said. "Kids plant the fruits and vegetables and are able to harvest them."
"Last year, we had 1,000 children," Favilla said. "Groups from Toddle Towne, St. Kevin's Catholic School and the YWCA. During the school year, we have school groups."
"This year, we're proud to welcome a group from Americorps in East St. Louis," Peipert said.
The children at the Discovery Garden plant, maintain and harvest such things
as potatoes, squash, cabbage, okra, corn, melons and strawberries.
"The children learn about different vegetables that they may not see at home,"
Favilla said. "A lot of them don't know what it is."
The children are taught three concepts: maintenance, such as weeding and mulching; planting; and harvesting.
A minimum of 10 percent of the harvest at the Discovery Garden is donated to the Crisis Food Center in Alton.
The Community Cultivators also will be participating in the Alton Farmers
Market by selling vegetables and fruits and offering Garden Art in the Riverbend activities. They received grants from the Madison County Arts
Council and a $1,000 donation from Community Christmas Inc. They also plan to sell cut flowers and herbs.
The Alton Farmers Market will be from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday in the
parking lot next to Catdaddies tavern. They begin June 4 and will end sometime in October.
"We are looking for volunteers, Favilla said. "We would like to see youth down there selling."
Community Cultivators also will be participating in Earth Day 2005 at Forest Park in St. Louis, where they will have composting demonstrations every hour on the hour. Earth Day is May 1.
The garden won the 2004 Governor's Hometown Award.
The Discovery Garden is at La Vista Park, 2421 W. Delmar Ave. in Godfrey near Valhalla Cemetery. To call to set up a group day at the garden
, call 781-9911 or send an e-mail to communitycultivators@hotmail.com.
melissa_minnix@link.freedom.com |
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