Grow Your Program with Gardening
My two driving passions are youth development and access to fresh food, so the idea of incorporating gardening into youth programs gets me very fired up. There are a lot of great garden resources out there including this previous Breakfast Club Blog: Garden-Based Learning. Truth be told I could chat about gardening plans and show you pictures of my little urban garden all day. But first we should talk about how gardening fits in to your bigger, grander program plan. Because gardening fits into every program plan.
A garden is the ideal spot to grow your program, regardless of the ages you serve, regardless of your focus, regardless of the amount of space you have. I believe every youth program can and should have a garden. Maybe it will just be some pots of lettuce grown on a shady balcony, an old kiddie pool transformed into a butterfly garden, or maybe it will be a grand space that engages the whole community. Either way, a garden will make your program stronger.