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Schools

Junior Gardeners Develop Skills and Compassion

The HHES Junior Garden Club learns to care for the planet, give to those in need and savor their time in nature.

The members of the HHES Junior Garden Club are learning through hands-on experience that tending a garden takes time and patience, but  sharing the harvest with those in need makes it worth the effort.

Bright and early on Monday mornings throughout the summer, students arrive at Huck's Paw Patch, the student garden nestled behind Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES). Led by Susan Ludwig and Heather Burner, this group of second, third and fourth grade students meet to water, weed and learn about the many aspects of caring for a garden. They also have a chance to pick the vegetables when they are ready and gather them to be given to local families in need through the Brookfield Food Pantry.

The students listen enthusiastically to their leaders as they move through the garden observing, touching and smelling the different plants and vegetables. Sometimes they even take a taste and without hesitation they share their opinion of how good — or bad — it tastes or smells. Maybe after seeing the interesting ways that different vegetables grow they will be more inclined to taste them. After all, brussel sprouts are far more interesting when you see how they sprout out of the hidden center stalk of a huge leafy plant. 

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Children also participate in a special activity each week, such as a nature walk through woods behind HHES where they learn about the types of trees native to Connecticut and learn to identify types of plants and flowers. On other days, they'll create a special craft, like their own nature journal, for notes and drawings of what they see and enjoy during their time in the garden.

The HHES Junior Garden Club always welcomes new members and older students as helpers. The club is open to students in grades two through four. Children do not have to commit to attending every Monday session to participate. 

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