February 10, 2010
As I was walking our children to school today, Lily (our 6 year old) was asking me about spring. “Mom, when is spring coming?” “When will it get here?” I wish I could have told her that spring will be here tomorrow. How we are both anxious for spring to come!
One thing that is helping me get to spring is thinking about Orchard Ridge’s Vegetable Village. We broke ground last spring and had 16 plots for people to garden in. One of those plots is designated as the Children’s garden and three plots grow vegetables for a local food pantry. Our family also had its own garden plot and even though it had the most weeds of all the plots, we are still optimistic about trying again this year. Despite the weeds, I had a wonderful harvest of broccoli, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and lettuce. It was deeply satisfying to enjoy these very tasty vegetables from our garden
With the help of Meg Stevens and LuAnn Greiner, we are thinking of ways to enhance the gardening experience for our children and youth. We would like for all children and youth to learn about gardening and see the connections between their faith and the miracle of growing vegetables.
One way that will really help us is by attending the conference “Madison Youth Grow Local Conference” which will be held February 21. Six of us are going from ORUCC—Meg Stevens, Jeanne McLellan, Gretchen Olson, Darcy Luoma, John Gilbert and me. We will attend all of the workshops which include: Seed Starting, Cooking in the Garden, Successful Youth Garden Models, Garden curriculum, Healthy Gardens—Healthy Youth, Youth Garden Tool Shed, Hands-on Garden Activities, and Gardening 101.
I’m grateful for so many people at Orchard Ridge who have made this dream of the Vegetable Village become a reality. I look forward to this conference and how it will inspire us and teach us more about gardening with youth and children.
Tammy Martens
