Junior Master Gardner Program Coming to Garden City

If you've been looking for a summer program to get your children or grandchildren involved in once school lets out, Garden City may have just what you're looking for. Laura Turner, Building Manager for the Maplewood Community Center has been working since last year to get a Michigan 4-H Club established there. "4-H has a lot of value for Garden City, " says Turner.

Registration is going on now for the inaugural summer program, 4-H Junior Master Gardener, presented by the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension. The 12-week program will be held on consecutive Monday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., beginning June 3. Youth will learn the science behind plant development and gardening practices, how to grow fruits and vegetables, the importance of nutrition, and how to plan, develop, and maintain a community or backyard garden.

Curriculum will be provided by 4-H and will be taught by gardener and community volunteer, John Gibbons, along with a few other volunteers. The program will use the community garden space at the Maplewood Community Center. The Junior Master Gardener Program is limited to youth in grades 3 through 8. Turner says the fact that 4-H mixes age groups together in its programs can make it easy for families with more than one child to find activities for everyone. "My biggest goal is to bring members of the community together-it's a community center," says Turner. "The idea of forming a 4-H club that brings people together...from the different schools, and then into the one building, and into one, hopefully, 4-H Club. The ultimate goal would be that 4-H have a self-sustaining club here in the building."

The harvest produced through the program will be donated to Our HOME Food Pantry at Maplewood Community Center. "Kids need to learn lessons that are not taught in schools; altruism is one of those," says Turner. "The idea that they could produce a harvest that goes to the food pantry that helps other people just adds an extra dimension to the actual learning how to garden idea."

Cost for the Junior Master Gardener Program is $25 for non-4-H members, which includes a one-year $20 membership into 4-H. Current 4-H members will be charged $5. The Maplewood Community Center is located at 31735 Maplewood in Garden City. For more information call 734-793-1850.