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GARDENING 

 YOUNG* FOLKS 



CONDUCTED BY ELLEN EDDY SHAW 



Organizations of Children's 

 Gardens 



JANUARY is not a bit too early in the year to 

 plan what sort of work is to be organized for the 

 children. The vacation time looms up, a time when 

 many children have too much leisure on their hands. 

 School people are considering the best way to 

 improve the school grounds. Problems of this 

 nature resolve themselves into "how to go about 

 it" and "what is the cost." 



It is usually so much better to start in a small 

 way and not to become saddled with more work 

 than any one knows how to handle. Usually each 

 problem is different and what one group of people 

 may do, another cannot. In club work it is better 

 either to start a community garden for children 

 or to start backyard garden work. Perhaps this 

 latter is a better thing to do since the home is more 

 easily reached in this way. Any piece of work like 

 this must have a, follow-up system attached to it. 

 Have printed a card similar to the following and 

 one showing that the gardens are visited throughout 

 the summer. This card explains itself: 



Address 



Name 



ATCHISON WOMAN'S CIVIC CLUB 

 Children's Home Garden Report 



FIRST VISIT 



Selection 



Arrangement 



Care 



Yard - Gen. Appear- 

 ance 



Date .Special 



Features 



Visitor 



SECOND VISIT 



Care 



Condition . 

 Date 



THIRD VISIT 



Care 



Condition. 

 Date 



Visitor Visitor 



Mark answers by letter. E— Excellent 

 G— Good F— Fair P— Poor 



Get in touch with the children through the schools. 

 If some of the teachers in each school become inter- 

 ested in the initial work, your problem is solved. 

 For the start-off counts tremendously. Perhaps 

 this work may become a part of the nature work. 

 The home garden work in Providence, Rhode Island, 

 is a part of the school work as follows: "Each 

 week a certain period is set aside for a discussion of 

 their home gardens. The pupils are requested to 

 make a plan of their gardens and then transfer it 

 to the black boa.rd. The plan is then discussed 

 before the class so that all may have the benefit of 

 any suggestions made. The work to be done at 

 each lesson and the reason for doing it is explained 

 in the class room before the pupils go to the gardens. 

 The students of higher classes are given a more 

 thorough discussion of the principles of gardening 

 at a regular weekiy period." 



If a supervisor or teacher of gardening can be 



A typical vacant lot loaned (or school garden work. Site 

 of the Seventh Street School Garden, Los Angeles, Cal. 



employed then she cooperates with the schools 

 and follows up the garden work throughout the 

 summer. But even so, it is wise to have a committee 

 ' of visitors from club members or citizens to help in 

 this work of visiting the gardens. As many people 

 as can be actively interested in the work, the better 

 it is. Assign visitors to gardens not in their own 

 districts. At the close of the season have a com- 

 mittee of judges visit the best gardens in each 

 district. These gardens are chosen by the visitors 

 from the reports on the cards. 



The community garden is another phase of 

 gardening work for children. First the plot must 

 be found. A vacant lot, a piece of unused real 

 estate, property belonging to the railways or city 

 are sometimes available; or they may be available, 

 depending upon the persistency of the individual 

 making the request. Most of these lots are dis- 

 couraging not entirely on account of the litter upon 

 them but also because of the wretched soil con- 

 dition. Such lots are results of dumpings with a 

 thin layer of top soil thrown on. So the top rubbish 

 must be cleared and the soil enriched to the full 

 extent of available funds. Again quoting from the 

 Providence work: "Early in the spring as soon as 

 the land was in a suitable condition, the flower beds, 

 borders, and the large garden were fertilized with 

 street sweepings at the rate of twelve cords to the 

 acre. This was spaded in and a dressing of a com- 

 plete commercial fertilizer was raked into the 

 surface soil. The land received an application of 

 lime last year so that there was no danger of failure 

 from an acid soil." 



In inaugurating this vacant lot gardening for 

 the first time, procure, if possible, a good teacher 

 of gardening who stays from the beginning of the 

 season until the end. She should receive from 

 twenty to thirty dollars a week if her entire time is 

 to be used. If she is employed by the day she 

 ought to have from two to five dollars a day accord- 

 ing to her experience and ability. 



After the lot and cooperation with the school 

 and the teacher are secured, the next steps to be 

 taken relate to the land, clearing it and fencing it in. 

 Unless the community is unusual fencing is nec- 

 essary. A chicken-wire fence or a boy-proof fence 

 may be used. Water should be installed in the 

 garden and a place provided for the tools. 



If all this work is under the charge of a club- 

 committee, appoint subcommittees to attend to 

 preparations of lot; supplies, such as tools and 

 seed; registration of pupils;.' prizes, and finally a 

 visiting committee. Even if the garden has a 

 good teacher, this visiting committee is a necessity, 

 for again there should be a follow-up . . 



Registration should take place before the garden 

 is open for children's work. Communicate with 

 neighboring public schools, telling that on such a 

 day gardens wDl be assigned to applicants. Chil- 

 dren from fourth to seventh school year are perhaps 

 the best material for work. Oftentimes the regis- 

 tration may be carried on at the public school 

 itself. Register more children than you have plots — 

 in this way you have a waiting list; few children 

 will give up their plots from flagging interest if 

 other boys and girls are ready to pop in and take 

 them. Cards should be ready for the children. On 

 these cards have placed the child's name, grade, 

 and home address. Then give each child a number 

 which represents a plot number. This same num- 

 ber place on his registration card and you have the 

 record. Buy a large journal and keep about two 

 pages for each child. On these pages his attendance 

 record is kept and also an account of crops taken 

 from plot, price of seed and amount of seed he uses. 

 At the end of the season totals can be made up 

 quickly from the sheets. 



Prizes are not necessary of course. But it is 

 often well to give simple prizes. It is helpful to 

 a lad to look forward to a prize when weeding, just 

 weeding day after day. These prizes should be 

 simple. Medals, of silver and bronze, costing 



202 



from fifty cents to one dollar are satisfactory prizes. 

 Books, tools, magazines, all pertaining to garden 

 interests, make fine prizes. 



In the following account by Miss Merle Smith of 

 Los Angeles, Cal., are points of helpfulness for 

 those starting work. If your own problem has 

 not been touched write directly to us for help. 



"A combination flower and vegetable garden, at 

 the Seventh Street School, was one of the finest 

 in the city. This garden was three years old,, 

 having been developed by the children on a vacant 

 lot, adjoining the school property. It was really 

 very pretty and furnished an abundance of fresh 

 vegetables, which the children took home. The 

 paths were bordered with dwarf nasturtiums. I 

 have never seen anything bloom as profusely as- 

 did those little plants! The children loved to 

 pick them but the nasturtiums always came out 

 ahead, so the borders were always like bands of 

 gaudy ribbon. Along the fence, on one side of the 

 garden a row of hollyhocks has been gay all summer, 

 while on the opposite side of the garden cosmos and 

 Marguerites effectively hid an ugly fence. The 

 flowers on the third side were the greatest joy of 

 all! Here we had dahlias which the children raised, 

 from seeds and they have been blossoming since 

 June. This garden was developed on the "com- 

 munity plan"; each class from the kindergarten, 

 to the sixth grade, having a section of its own. 

 The garden was so successful during its first two- 

 years and proved itself of such inestimable value 

 to the little Mexicans, Negroes, and Italians who' 

 attend this school, that the principal looked about 

 for more worlds to conquer. He found his oppor- 

 tunity on a large vacant lot, across the street from 

 the school, which the owner loaned him for a garden. 

 This lot had been used as a dump for years, SO' 

 looked almost hopeless from the view-point of a. 

 gardener. However, the enthusiasm and energy 

 of the boys was limitless, so there was nothing- 

 impossible. A strip 50 feet, wide and 700 feet long- 

 was cleared and this was divided into plots 20 x 2c 

 ft. square. Each plot was assigned to two boys and 

 was planted with a good variety of small vege- 

 tables. 



"This was the largest school garden in the city 

 and excited much comment from those interested, 

 in children's work. One cannot exaggerate the 

 enthusiasm of the boys, for they were wild over 

 their gardens. I was kept busy during recesses, 

 noons, and long after school hours, by the smalL 

 gardeners who could not get enough of the work 

 to satisfy them, during the regular periods assigned 

 for garden work. Mrs. Larkey, the principal 

 laughingly said, 'Miss Smith does not have to urge 

 the boys to work; they work her.' The Seventh 

 Street School is an elementary school in the heart 

 of the industrial district. The soil is very loose and 

 sandy, so it requires constant irrigation and culti- 

 vation." 



The same lot two months later. Note the neat wire fence 

 about the garden; also the tool house 



