Our kiddos have major green thumbs! The past few months, they have grown a variety of veggies in our Iris Auxiliary Garden.
Tomatoes have been given much TLC by our youth who originally planted them as seeds. They wrapped several seeds in towels, placed them in a Ziploc bag, and taped them to a window for some needed sunshine. Youth were encouraged and given the responsibility to monitor their plants with help from Center staff, and also have positive conversations with their plants as they took care of them. Our youth have also grown jalapenos and banana peppers, which have been used with the tomatoes to make pico de gallo salsa in their nutrition groups where they talk about GMOs and organic food.
Center Recreational Assistant, Mayra Rodriguez, who leads our garden group shares, “Gardening has a special place in my heart as my dad taught me how to garden. It’s rewarding for me to share my love of gardening with kids at the Center and teach them how they can use it as a coping skill. It’s cool to see the kids have fun and feel proud about what they’re doing in the garden from planting a seed to seeing it grow, become healthy, and then be able to eat what they grow.”
