The Missouri Garden 'n Grow Program is a summer volunteer gardening program developed for 9 to 13- year-old youths. In the program, youths learn not only vegetable gardening, but also "cultivate" other science, math, and language arts skills and have fun! The goals of the Garden 'n Grow Program are to experience the fun of gardening, to enjoy a feeling of success, and to have the satisfaction of sharing harvested food with others in need. Vegetables harvested from the gardens are for home use and donation to a local food agencies.
Each gardener is teamed up with another to plant a theme garden. Some of these include:
 Salsa garden |
Rad garden |
| Rainbow garden |
Spicy garden |
| Holiday garden |
Relish tray garden |
Gardens are a valuable learning tool because:
They provide a relaxed atmosphere
without classroom walls
Youth learn by hands-on
experiences
Rapid results are achieved with
plants
Youth can successfully apply
knowledge gained
Guided by adult volunteers, development of the whole child is emphasized as well as team building as they garden with a partner. Adult leaders use cooperative teaching skills to educate youth about seeds, transplants, garden planning and design, site preparation, soils, plant growth and development, costs of production, garden pests, plant health care, human nutrition, food value, food needs in the local community, and horticultural career opportunities. Each adult volunteer is trained by University of Missouri Extension Specialist, Dr. Michele Warmund. A Garden 'n Grow Leader handbook, including lesson plans, and Garden 'n Grow notebooks for youth are provided.
Garden 'n Grow Programs meet twice per week for hour and a half sessions to discuss educational subjects and to cultivate their gardens. Although the Garden 'n Grow Program is designed as a 10-week summer program, enthusiastic gardeners often tend their garden plot until frost.
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The Garden 'n Grow Homepage is maintained by the people at AgEBB at the University of Missouri. |