On Tuesday, five socially-distanced kids gathered in the sweltering summer heat of a borrowed backyard to begin a new series of backyard adventures. This time involving buckets and food scraps and seedlings ready for planting.
The kids are taking part in the Roots ‘N’ Shoots children’s gardening program hosted by the West Chester Green Team. Over the course of the summer, they will learn to compost, plant fruits and vegetables and tend a garden. The organic gardening program, now in its second year, is led by two West Chester University students and involves all the essentials of summer – dirt, water, games and if all goes well, watermelon.
After a few awkward get-to-know-you minutes, the lessons began and the kids no longer seemed to mind the masks they were required to wear or the beads of sweat starting to grow on their foreheads. Instead they enthusiastically dumped food scraps onto the compost pile and grabbed water to help it decompose (lesson number one.)
The Roots ‘N’ Shoots Children’s gardening program meets every Tuesday and Thursday on S. Everhart Street from 4-5:30 p.m. The program is free and open to kids 6-12. Contact Courtney Bodle at cbgrowinggreen@gmail.com if you have a kid or two that would be interested in participating – a few spots remain!
If you’re a grownup interested in some gardening tips, Courtney has an awesome Instagram gardening series you should check out.