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gardening for the soul
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Posted by stephtheogre88 z5/6 PA (My Page) on Mon, Jul 12, 04 at 22:49
| now i feel kind of weird saying this, but i really want to use my skill and love of gardening to help people, and to brighten their days. now i am only twelve(turning 13 soon), so that kinda limits me, but is there a way i could start some kind of organization that could plant flowers/landscape around senior centers, and work with the kids at my local elementary school.i figurethat there are many places that would help in the way of donations. i am in very good graces with that school since i help babysit at pta meetings and went there for 6 years (k-5). i figured that the best info for gardening with kids would be this forum,lol. thank you so much. p.s. money is an issue because i am so young, but i am not looking at this as a business, more as an organization. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: gardening for the soul
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| What a fantastic idea! Contact the principal or assistant principal of your elementary school, and ask to adopt a flowerbed or possibly a neglected area. Schools usually have a difficult time maintaining landscaping, so they would probably welcome someone who would like to keep up a certain area. If you want to involve the kids, perhaps the principal can help with a way to do that. As for the money, check with the PTA president and see if you could request a small amount of money from their budget. You would have to tell them specifically what you want to do and how much it would cost. You could do the same thing at a senior center or a church. Or look into Brownies or Girl Scouts to see if they have a gardening badge you could help the girls earn. I admire you very much for your idea. Working with gardening and children is a lot of fun. Young children love to see things grow, don't mind weeding, love to see living things in the garden. You are an amazing young woman. Follow your dreams, dear! |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| thank you so much. i will contatc the principle come september, maybe putting in a few bulbs would be a good project... |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| Below is a web page which might be of interest. I don't know how gardening works in PA. Maybe you have snow coming? But if bulbs could be planted now and survive the winter, that would be fun. If PTA money won't work, ask a local nursery or even Home Depot if you have one if they will donate some bulbs for your project. If you go there in person, with a drawing or write-up of your plans and talk to the manager of the store, you have a good chance of getting a donation. Be sure you know exactly what you want and how many bulbs. At the least, they might give you a discount. Tell them you will make a sign in your garden that the bulbs were donated by Home Depot, or whoever. My son got a donation from Home Depot that way once, believe it or not! At my school, third graders keep a worm box and put their lunch scraps in it to make compost. You would not have to do a worm box. You could start a small compost heap with soil and leaves, and maybe somehow kids could bury their lunch scraps there to create a compost heap. (Keep scraps buried or animals and flies come. Stir the pile a time or two each week.) This is decomposition and creates compost material which can be worked into the garden soil. What would really be nice is if there is a teacher at the school who likes to garden, she could have her class be involved with what you want to do. How this all works with your own school schedule, I don't know! Also, if you have a science teacher at your own school, she or would be a good resource for you to get ideas and information. If you have specific questions about plants, post them on the other sites (like the "bulb" forum). I noticed this education forum does not get too much traffic, and you have a better chance of getting questions answered in other places. Don't be overwhelmed. If you even do one small activity at school, you can do another later or next year and build upon what you have done. You will have more and more ideas as you go. I hope this hasn't been too long, but I think you have a great idea! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Kidsregen.org
RE: gardening for the soul
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| lol, not to long at all. thank you for the wonderful plan.... |
RE: gardening for the soul
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Maybe you could figure out a way to get the special ed kids involved in a project, like planting bulbs or even mums in the fall...they could help do the digging, planting, and watering depending on their level of disability. They could also draw pictures of the flowers, and I'm sure there are many other projects that would be interesting and enriching for them with a gardening theme.
OR you could start an after school club to help plan, plant, and maintain a garden at your school. You could do lots of research and let everyone contribute ideas for plant selection. You could grow cut flowers for the cafeteria tables, sweet smelling herbs like mint (there are tons of mint varieties, like chocolate mint, pineapple mint, pear mint, apple mint, etc...)
Science teachers might like the idea of butterfly gardens...host plants for the caterpillars, flowers for nectar, maybe even a box to watch the larvae emerge....Be creative and have fun!!! Good for you for being so interested in gardening, and for being generous... |
RE: gardening for the soul
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Steph:
How about involving a group of students to begin with(ones that would stay involved) next choose your destination (a nursing home or a little plot in town with city council permission) THen go for it... bakesales, car-washes, craft shows etc. I'm sure anybody that is envolved has the support of parents and communites. Present the council with a garden bed layout, introduce everyone involved and watch adults take you all in a new perspective. Gardens are beautiful and guarentee the agonizing chore of keeping it clean. They may even ease up on a little of the city's money. Small town here in iowa but we have volunteer's that have planters on the square they maintain all year round; ie winter there are evergreens with old foilage from blck-eyed susans etc. Summer is a festive show of annuals. Good luck in all your endeavors. Hope this was of some assistance to you-what amotivated young lady.
debbie |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| Steph - What a COOL idea! Getting started can be a big job - but kids and teens can do AMAZING things. Your forum page here says that you are in 4H. Tell your group leader about your idea - she or he should be able to talk you through some specific steps. Keep us updated on how it is going. |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| thank you for all your help. but do you have to be a certain age to run something like this? since i'm twelve, i don't know if i can be the leader of something. |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| Stephanie, you sound a little overwhelmed with all this advice. Don't try to do too much at the start. Just start with a one very small idea you think you can handle. See how you like it, see how it goes. Then go from there. Yes, you can be in charge of this. Just plan your idea and be well organized. Good luck. |
RE: gardening for the soul
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| Stephanie, If you are not comfortable being the leader, you could be a co-leader! Contact your local gardening club or extension service (through your 4H could work) and ask if they know of a local master gardener who might pair up with you to help you bring your vision to reality. Working with someone more experienced for the first project might help you avoid pitfalls that you hadn't thought about. It will make you more confident going forward to have had guidance the first time. What a wonderful idea and project. I am proud of you for thinking of it and strongly encourage you to do it. :) Marie |
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