Kids and gardens do mix
We had a great turnout for the children’s garden hayride Saturday, despite overcast skies and intermittent rain. A half inch of rain the day before spurred all the flowers and plants to look their very best and more sunflowers seemed to bloom overnight to welcome the children, which made our abundant honey bees deleriously happy.
Ouita Michel, chef at Holly Hill Inn brought her daughter Willa who had no problem digging into the soil and may well become a future farmer of America. Ouita spoke to the gathering about her relationship with local farmers and how their seasonal vegetables, fruits, and naturally raised animal products inspire her cooking. Ouita buys vegetables from Honest Farm each week and has been a big supporter (bless her).
Ouita Michel, chef of Holly Hill Inn
Willa Michel helps mulch the garden.
Mark Keating, father of Celeste, also spoke to the group about the health and environmental benefits of organically raised local foods. Mark is a professor with the sustainable initiative at the University of Kentucky. UK will launch a 4-year undergraduate degree next year and it looks to be a very exciting program.
Mark and Celeste Keating.
After the sustainable chat the children engaged in some hands on interaction with the garden, picking beans and digging potatoes. Who knew seeing potatoes emerge from the ground could be so facinating? (at least now I know how to entertain children). We hope to have a Tour de Bugs in August with some entymology experts and also to have a sustainable program in place for the school children of the nearby counties this fall.
The irony about Kentucky, a huge agricultural state, is there is a serious lack of on-farm experiences available to thousands of schoolchildren who grow up in largely urban and suburban centers. It’s something we’d like to help change with the children’s garden. Here are some more photos of the day below (thanks to Justin Mason for the wonderful photos).
Tater Tots Kevin and Eva grapple for potatoes.
Lauren liked the hay ride to the garden with the vintage International Harvester tractor best.
It takes a village… to keep the garden looking good. Seve and Castro, who usually work with the horses on the farm, helped get the garden in shape for visitors.
Coral zinnias grow between rows of corn and beans next to the childrens garden.
All aboard the hay wagon.
Here’s a bed of sweet potato vines and flowers at the entrance of the kids garden framed by straw bales. Some of the sweet potatoes are edible. The garden incorporates vegetables with flowers and fragrant herbs the children can touch, smell and eat.
Our scare crow dubbed "Scarytina Aguilera" is very popular with children. At least the Canadian geese find her scary.
