Its a neat way to get kids to eat their veggies.
For the first time in recent memory, two local organizations collaborated on a childrens garden this summer at the Cortez Recreation Center.
Sarah Syverson, director of the Montezuma School to Farm project, and Joye McHenry, recreation supervisor at the center, facilitated the educational effort.
The childrens garden was built outside the Cortez Rec Center with donations from the nonprofit Livewell Montezuma and the Mancos Conservation District. More than $600 in supplies and labor was donated.
Some 50 children, ages 5 to 10, were involved in the program, which met on Mondays from early June to early August as part of the Playground Days summer program.
If they watch it come out (of the ground), they want to eat it, Syverson said. If they put the seeds in the ground, they want to eat it.
Five raised garden beds produced a variety of foods, including cherry tomatoes, onions, broccoli, spinach, purple bush beans, peas, carrots, zucchini, winter squash, Hopi blue corn, and purple and green basil. The beds were framed with cedar and are irrigated by drip lines.
All of the food is chemical-free, and helps teach the children the importance of locally grown food, Syverson said.
Some of the academic topics covered for the kids were soil, germination, compost, nutrition, harvesting, weeding, water conservation and life of a farmer/gardener.
Syverson plans to expand on the programs foundation by offering taste testings from the garden at Kemper Elementary School this fall on Colorado Proud Day, Sept. 12.
Syverson also would like to offer field trips to the garden from local schools so that students can harvest and maintain it.
The Cortez garden is the third childrens garden in the area. Others are located at Dolores and Mancos schools.
It exceeded my expectations, McHenry said.
calebs@cortezjournal.com