By Ed Harrison
Small fingers held a fat, greenish-gray cutworm up to the sky with the Bitterroot mountains in the background.
“That’s the enemy,” Colleen Miller, the Stevensville Community Garden Director said. “That critter will chomp our seedlings. Let’s throw him over the fence so that the birds can have a meal.” Other children gathered around and squealed with delight at the sight of the wiggling moth larvae before it was dispatched into the high grass on the outside of the Community Garden fence.
In mid-May, kids attending the North Valley Library Summer Program learned soil and planting principles while they pushed sunflower, morning glory, zuke and cuke seeds into styrofoam cups filled with potting mixture they’d made themselves of compost, perlite, and fertilizer. Popsicle sticks staked each gardener’s bit of land and recorded their crop choice.
A month later, they took a field trip to the Stevensville Community Gardens on Park Street, eager to plant their seedlings in the new hoop house and along the front fence. Before grabbing trowels, they were educated about raised beds and drip lines and mulch, then led into the new hoop house to experience the “climate change” afforded by the plastic structure.
Saving the best for last, the seedlings were handed out and the kids got busy digging up dirt to rehome their small plants. Veggies were set in raised beds for an edible feast in a few weeks, while the beautification crew set the stage for a gorgeous sunflower and morning glory display along the front fence.
The North Valley Public Library sponsored this trip through its Summer Reading Program. Contact Patricia Meakin at the library, 777-5061, for more information or to get your child involved.
The Stevensville Community Gardens are located near the high school on Park Street. All beds are let for this year, but contact Colleen Miller at 777-1167 if you would like to volunteer, get on
the email list, or register for a bed for next season.