|
Kids dig potatoes
First Potato Harvest held at Children's Discovery Garden
By LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph
GODFREY - There was plenty of. potato fun Friday evening at the Children's Discovery Garden, with solar-cooked spuds, potato printing, burlap sack races and lots of digging in the dirt..
Young and old grabbed garden forks and small- and regular-sized shovels and gently turned over dark soil to reveal red and yellow treasures underneath: Red Norland and Kennebec potatoes.
Excited children's voices summoned their parents or siblings: "We've got potatoes over here!" "Look how many I have!"
The enthusiastic diggers helped themselves to what they could use in the immediate future, dropping the tubers into bags to take home. They filled big blue plastic tubs with the rest, which will be donated to Crisis
Food Center in Alton, project manager April Calvin said.
"This was open to the public," she said. "It was to get the community introduced to the organic produce and to help out people who can't come here. It is for outreach and education."
Calvin said. this was the first such event at the garden, which is at LaVista Park, 2421 W. Delmar Ave.
"We are pleased so many people decided to come. If we are successful, we will do it next year.," she said.
The sponsor was Community Cultivators.
Naturally, the free snack of the evening was potatoes with herbs and oil; they baked six hours in a solar oven.
Among the enthusiastic potato diggers was Hannah Taylor, 8, of Brighton.
"It was a lot of work" she said, but proudly showed off her prize spud, a mini "potatoette" that appeared to fall short of a half-inch in diameter.
Her tiny find, though, won her a bug-viewing jar in the "most unusual potato" contest, which thrilled the youngster.
"She thought it was pretty cool," her mother, Tamra Taylor, as Hannah stuck her head under a gushing hand pump to cool down.
Taylor said she and her daughter would bring home a few potatoes but that they mainly came to help dig for the charity.
Norma Glazebrook, who donated land for the park, said she was pleased to see the youngsters having so much fun - and learning about where their food comes from.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "City kids don't know what farming is like. I was fortunate to have grandparents that farmed, and I could visit them" and see food growing.
|
