Youth Center kids learn gardening skills

  • Published
  • By Bud Cordova
  • Nucleus
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Cries of "Eww!" and "Cool!" ring across the playground at every worm unearthed during the Kirtland Air Force Base Youth Center's annual planting of the garden.

Youth center drama teacher Jean Sucher is responsible for the garden club. Every year, she teaches kids how to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers from seed.

The process starts in March and continues until the harvest, as late as October.

"The kids love watching things grow. They especially love getting to eat everything at the end," Sucher said.

This will be the second summer having the garden. However, this will be the first year with all age groups involved.

The plants will be spaced out around the center in planters and on the playground.

The children's responsibility is to perform "bunny patrol." They make sure there are no holes under the fence around the garden, and if there are, they get help filling them.

377th Security Forces Group Tech. Sgt. Jarred Baker volunteered to help prepare the garden beds April 6. Baker and a team of eight more volunteers helped build the garden beds last year.

Baker started preparing the beds at 9 a.m. to have them ready for the kids to start planting at 1 p.m.

"I'm so grateful to have (Baker's) help. He is so good with the garden and the kids," Sucher said.

The children get to watch their garden grow from seeds in the classroom, where they start a new batch every two weeks. They document and take pictures of the seedlings as they grow and become ready to be transplanted into the beds.

Once plants are outside, the kids will help with the weeding and watering.

During harvest time, Sucher will bring the vegetables and fruit inside, and cut them up to share among the kids. Anything that's left over the children get to take home to their families.

Planting a garden in April is part of how the youth center participates in Keep America Beautiful Month. It celebrates the things people can do to improve the environment.

For more information about Keep America Beautiful, visit KAB.org.