Helping Others Learn to Grow

It's hard to believe that the summer is over already!  It seems like only yesterday that I started my internship with University of Illinois Extension, Unit 13.  I split my time this summer between the 

4-H/Youth Development and Horticulture programs and got to work on some fun and exciting projects.

My Time in Jail... not really!

My main horticulture project involved working with Master Gardener volunteers at the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) community garden.  This program, started by horticulture educator Sandy Mason, provides year-round lessons to detained youth from around Champaign County and the surrounding areas.  

There are two main objectives of the JDC program.  The first is to provide interactive lessons on horticulture, healthy eating, nature, and the environment.  Secondly, and I think most importantly, it provides hands-on gardening experience for the youth, many of which have never gardened before.  This also helps fulfill the Master Gardener mission to "help others learn to grow."

My primary job in the JDC program was to format and create interactive lesson plans, put together operational guidelines and procedure, and to design evaluation forms that will help the volunteers track their progress at the garden and provide helpful information when they apply for grants and other funding.  However, I also got to get out in the garden many times this summer!

It was definitely a shock to work in the garden under the JDC environment.  Since it is a correctional facility, security is a top concern.  The use of sharp garden tools is limited, plant heights are restricted, and things like string, wire cages, and even plant identification tags are not allowed.  A tool count was done at the beginning and end of each session and the officers had to be notified how many tools we had.

Even though there were many restrictions, it was great to see how actively engaged the kids were with everything.  They loved being able to pick and eat raspberries right off the plants, and had competitions to see who could harvest the most tomatoes.  While it was something I had never experienced before, I was really glad to be able to play a part at JDC this summer.

In addition to fruit and vegetables, the garden also has a monarch butterfly habitat and has been designated a Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch, an organization that tracks the monarch butterfly migration each year.

The raised vegetable beds were planted with tomatoes, peppers,
cantaloupe, sunflowers, eggplant, green beans, and broom corn.

The berry patch overflowed with red raspberries, thornless blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries.