Children’s Vegetable Garden Program accepting applications for spring
Youth program joint effort of AgriLife Extension, San Antonio Botanical Garden
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Bexar County and San Antonio Botanical Garden, or SABG, are accepting applications for their Spring 2020 Children’s Vegetable Garden Program.
The program is held at the Children’s Vegetable Garden, or CVG, on the botanical garden grounds at 555 Funston Place, San Antonio. It is open to children 7-16 years of age from Bexar and surrounding counties.
Program activities will be 9 a.m.- noon on consecutive Saturdays from Feb. 22 through June 6.
“The program provides children with the opportunity to learn about gardening and horticulture, grow their own food and learn about nutrition and develop life skills,” said David Rodriguez, AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture in Bexar County and the program’s administrator. “The program also acquaints youth participants with aspects of math and science in addition to helping them learn the importance of teamwork and developing a respect for nature.”
Rodriguez said during the program, children receive their own garden plot in which they prepare soil, plant, weed, nurture, grow and harvest their own vegetables under the guidance and instruction of Bexar County Master Gardener volunteers.
“Bexar County Master Gardeners work with the participants, showing them how to grow vegetables while teaching them about nutrition, the environment and the benefits of outdoor interests,” Rodriguez said. “And many of the program activities use the Junior Master Gardener curriculum in keeping with mandated knowledge and skills requirements for public schools.”
Rodriguez said thanks to support from Milberger’s Landscaping and Nursery, the cost is only $50 per child or $80 for two children if they share a plot.
To register, go to https://www.sabot.org/education/childrens-education/childrens-vegetable-garden-program/.
Participation in the program will be based on completeness of the application and the participant’s commitment to attend each session, though two absences are allowed, Rodriguez said.
For more CVG program details, call SABG at 210-536-1412.
For information on the CVG and other Bexar County youth vegetable gardening programs, including need-based scholarships for those programs, contact Rodriguez at 210-631-0400 or dhrodriguez@ag.tamu.edu.
