Thanks to a Lowell gardening program, local kids get to spend the summer learning firsthand what “farm-to-table” means.
The Wittenbach/Wege Agriscience & Environmental Education Center is in the midst of hosting their eight-week Junior Master Gardener summer camp for children going into grades 4-7. The camp runs from June until early August, and kids are busy learning that hard work brings them a sense of accomplishment and excitement.
The kids show a lot of enthusiasm in showing off their growing gardens and talking about the things they are learning.
The first thing they do every session is hold a weeding contest. Gardeners have plotted their own vegetables that need to be routinely weeded. The gardener that is the most thorough in weeding their plot wins for that day.
Wittenbach Center Director Courtney Cheers says the theme of this year’s Master Gardener Summer Camp is “Celebrating Michigan Agriculture.” Cheers says Michigan is second in the nation to California for the diversity of crops produced.
“There are 300 commodities that we produce in our state, and that’s pretty amazing,” Cheers explains.
The young gardeners, many of whom return to the camp consecutive years, are growing dozens of different vegetables including onions, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, and herbs.
The campers also get to experience some off-site trips to local farms and the IQhub agricultural museum in St. John’s, which Cheers describes as “Disneyland for farmers.” Gardeners will also visit the Lowell Farmers’ Market on July 27 to sell some of their produce.
Cheers says each week the gardeners cook nutritious food together as well as create products with their produce such as beeswax modeling clay.
Gardeners were treated with an onsite demonstration of the life and work of honeybees with local beekeeper Charlie Knudstrup. He showed thee kids how to do a hive check and discussed the different roles each type of bee has in the hive.
Kids suited up in bee safety suits and were able to tend to the hive along with Knudstrup so he was able to visibly present how bees live and produce honey. Cheers says Michigan is the 8th largest producer of honey in America.
The Wittenbach Center also hosted a Junior Master Naturalist camp throughout June for children going into grades 2-6. Those students built a life-size eagle nest on the Wittenbach trail and learned the art of weaving.
Cheers, who has been director of the center for nine years, says the goal of the summer programs is to give kids an appreciation of where their food comes from and the hard work that it takes to produce it. She also hopes the camps will spur some interest in an agricultural career.
Cheers says there are 14 children in the Master Gardener Camp and approximately 50 children in the two sessions of the Master Naturalist Camp combined.
The kids do a lot of work to make the gardens a success, but others have come alongside to help in many ways, including many volunteers. “The fence was built by highschoolers… students are our muscles,” Cheers notes. “Their drive and their work ethic are why we have so many of the cool things that we do.”
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