Kids at “The Farm”

Kids at “The Farm” –

from the TWATL 4/15/2011

Who knew you could grow pumpkins in an eggshell?

Pat Barry, Children’s Garden Coordinator at Skidaway Farms surely knew!  It was the first thing she taught her flock of children-farmers about how vegetables really grow.

Supported by their parents, over a dozen children (ages 4-8) have planted sunflowers, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins and radishes in the Children’s Garden at the Farm.  With a generous grant from the Green Thumb Garden Club, Pat rented the plots and was able to purchase enough copies of Helen Jordan’s  “How A Seed Grows” so each child had their own book.  Linda Rich, Aletha Dunlavy and Kathy Fritz helped Pat till the soil and get the plots ready for the children.

Then, armed with a couple dozen eggshells and some pumpkin seeds, Pat showed her wide-eyed little Farmers just how it was done!  Everyone took home their eggshell – and watched it carefully for that first exhilarating pop of green up through the soil.  Once the seeds germinated, each child planted the seedling  at the Farm – eggshell and all!

Other seeds went into the ground directly – under the caring eye of the flowered-hat-scarecrow who, so far, has kept a vigilant watch over all the goings-on!

Girl Scout Troop # 33061 also has joined the Children’s Garden.  These Daisy Scouts are working to receive their Rose-Petal-Daisy badge by gardening their harvest of melons and veggies.  Troop Co-Leaders, Dawn Ciano and Colleen Bibby are using Skidaway Farms to guide these young girls through the “Make The World a Better Place” Girl Scout program.

Skidaway Farms encourages other children to join up…  organized groups or maybe a Grandparent and their grandchildren.  The only requirement is the children must live on Skidaway Island and a parent/guardian must be involved.  Contact Pat Barry at pat@home31411.com with any questions about the Children’s Program.

Come on down and visit the Farm!

Skidaway Farms is on McWhorter Road going to Modena — bear left at the fork and then turn left onto the gravel drive next to the Skidaway Farms sign.  The gates are open every day from “sun up to sundown.”