Junior Master Gardeners Learn to Grow

Last week (July 26-30)  we held our first ever Junior Master Gardener camp for kids between the ages of 7 and 12. There was a chance of thunderstorms everyday but that did not stop us from having fun at the camp. There was a total of 20 kids split into 3 groups known as the Rockin' Radishes, Super Squash, and Cool Carrots.

The groups had some friendly competition throughout the week working together as teams. Throughout the camp they learned about the importance bugs have in the garden, teamwork, the different soil types, performing in front of others, food safety, nutrition, and that food products can be used for much more than just eating.

In addition, the kids learned about what Grow Food Grow Hope is and how it exists to help those in need, and the importance of gardening as a whole.

By the end of the week, there were 20 Junior Master Gardener Graduates complete with caps and an award ceremony. Below are the group pictures from the graduation ceremony:

Rockin' Radishes

Super Squash

Cool Carrots

Last Summer Meeting at the Community Gardens

Last night at our weekly community garden night, our garden families gathered together for one last time. With the last vegetables of the gardens ripening, this was the last formal meeting of our garden families. The families are still welcome to come back at any time to continue maintaining and harvesting their gardens.

The Wilmington Fire Department was gracious enough to lend one of their ladder trucks which allowed for aerial pictures from 150 feet above the gardens.

Instead of a cooking demonstration, there was a smorgasbord of samples which included favorites from other weeks such as lemon sage dip, cucumber dip, garden fresh salsa, blueberry zucchini bread, green tomato cake, and more.

The night ended with a short slide-show of pictures from over the summer and a presentation of awards to the families and mentors involved in the program.

Thanks to everyone involved, including the Wilmington Fire Department, with the Community Gardens for making it a great summer!

This amazing picture was taken by Randy Sarvis

Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden

* Community Garden sessions will happen rain or shine *

Located on the Wilmington College campus, the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden is a 40-plot vegetable and herb garden maintained by low-to-moderate income families and individuals in our community. The plots are provided completely FREE of cost to the families and gardeners, and 100% of the resources, tools and education materials are covered by the college, grants, and donors to our program.

With the mindset that food security and healthy eating habits are often disconnected, the community garden aims to offset most of the costs associated with a nutritious and balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and herbs. New or novice gardeners are paired with more experienced gardeners who help in planting, weeding and harvesting in the plots. Education is an important element to the community garden, as we aim to make the new gardeners self-sustainable in the future.


Started in 2009, the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden was the precursor project to the broader GFGH initiative, and is still one of the centerpieces of our project. In 2010 we expanded the garden from 20 to 40 plots, and we added two kids garden beds to accommodate the children of our garden families.

Are you interested in maintaining a plot in the community garden? Applications will be available to the public beginning January 5, 2011. For more information check out our brochure or contact our Community Garden VISTA.

For more information about the community garden, please contact:

Angie Lauver
Community Garden & Community Outreach
Wilmington College AmeriCorps* VISTA
Grow Food, Grow Hope Garden Initiative
alauver@wilmington.edu
(937) 382-6661 ext. 596

To see all blog posts about the community garden, click here.

A Fresh Taste

This post is written by one of our Grow Food Grow Hope Summer Associates, Amy Petzold, about her experience during the Culinary Job Training Class.

I have always been interested in food from a very young age.  I would invent my own recipes when I was seven and eight no matter how disgusting and odd they looked.  Just imagine what a seven or eight year old would make when left to their own devices.  As I have grown up, food network television shows slowly replaced cartoons in my free time.  I constantly gain ideas from shows that I watch and adapt them in my head making a culinary feast that would rival any top chef…if only in my mind.  I enjoy finding whatever leftovers are in my refrigerator and making new concoctions with foods that are new to me.  I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love to create.  I am forever a foodie through my heart and soul.

            With this blooming love of food and cooking, it is with great excitement that I observed Chef Tom’s Culinary Class held at Sugartree Ministries.  Tom and his group of around ten chefs come together in order to learn new techniques, create food, and share meals.  This lesson that I observed involved learning American Regional Cooking.  Chef Tom explained that each region of American has its own unique style of cooking derived from many different cultures around the world.  Except for Native American cooking, which has been influenced by early settlers, no food is essentially American.  Like our people, American cuisine is a melting pot of cultures and races all coming together to influence one another in unique and surprising ways.  On the menu for this week’s lesson is: smoked pork loin prepared four ways, homemade barbeque sauce, three stuffed chicken recipes, mashed garlic potatoes, roasted herb red potatoes, southern style cole slaw, and a salad with a homemade vinaigrette.  With such an ambitious meal to prepare in four hours, including prep, tasting, and washing, the chefs began dividing tasks immediately and started work.

Students prepare southern style Coleslaw for their American meal.