Edible Queens – Web Exclusives, September 2011 QUEENS BOTANICAL GARDEN'S HSBC CHILDREN'S GARDEN PROGRAM 2
Growth Spurt The HSBC Children's Garden program at the Queens Botanical Garden turns picky eaters into veggie-lovers Written and photographed by Shari Romar FLUSHING -- Timing is everything and mine was perfect – I arrived just as a fresh batch of homemade jam was ready to be tasted. A perfect red color, filled with gooseberries, strawberries, and a hint of fig, the tasty components were harvested earlier that morning by the eager youngsters in Queens Botanical Garden’s HSBC Children’s Garden program. “I never had gooseberries before,” Sion said as he affixed the label on his jar. Offering an experience that can’t be bottled, the Garden in Flushing is doing what it does best – teaching children about gardening and the vast natural world around them, even in the city. The HSBC Children’s Garden program runs sessions in spring, summer, and fall where kids between 5 and 12 explore their own exclusive garden within QBG’s 39 bucolic acres. At any point between March and October, the raised garden beds are adorned with kale, sugar snap peas, carrots, oregano, lettuce, corn, cabbage, and perhaps the best tomatoes I’ve ever seen. By working the soil, then planting, tending and harvesting their own vegetables
and fruit, children get a hands-on experience and learn that food doesn’t originate in a grocery store. And when there’s a harvest, there’s a menu.
Cooking and sampling new tastes figures into the lessons just as much as learning about ecology and botany. Besides that luscious jam, kids help in the preparation of treats like salsa, salads, pickles and pizza cooked in a solar oven made of modified pizza boxes. Nina contemplated coleslaw made from one of the huge purple globes picked that morning. “I liked it at first, but now I’m not sure,” she surmised. “But I’d try it again.” Her comment sums up the brilliance of the Children’s Garden program. “Kids are excited to try new foods that they’ve grown and helped prepare,” said Annette, a mother whose son has participated in the program for three summers. “Even if they don’t care for it now, they’ll be open to trying it again
at a later time.” Rebecca Wolf, the program’s ever-energetic coordinator sees this all the time. “I’ve had children who never ate vegetables start eating them, and then wanted to try new ones.”
After the gooseberry jam was poured into jars, the kids created pond gardens for tadpoles. Rebecca and her counselors led their young charges through the process of filling the bottom of the plastic tubs with gravel and sand, then installing aquatic plants. Fun times indeed, but the excitement ramped up when the tadpoles came out and were welcomed into their new homes. Harvesting closes out the day. Carrots come first, and there’s careful consideration of which ones would be the best to pull, followed by a rousing comparison of shapes and sizes. “Mine has a moustache!” said Nick, showing the three-pronged root to friends. Kale leaves follow, and the excursion is rounded out by hunting for colorful squash growing alongside corn just producing young ears. Coordinating the program since 2007, Rebecca has noticed perennial favorites in the garden. “Tomatoes are always popular and we get them in all shapes and sizes which
is a hit. And root vegetables are fun since it’s almost like a surprise – you don’t see what’s underground until it’s pulled up.” In fact, she’s hard-pressed to think of a vegetable the children dislike – a situation many parents can’t fathom. “They just love harvesting and tend to eat anything they picked.”
To learn more and register for the program, visit the Children's Garden website or call 718-886-3800, ext. 230. More Articles...
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