Intergenerational/Children's Garden Programs

**J*@aol.com**

Greetings from New Hampshire ...

I am very interested in talking with folks who may have been involved in 
teaching gardens for youth, seniors, families, and summer day camps.

We are currently in the third year of a pilot 4-H Green Thumb Team Gardening 
Program involving:
1. 4-H/YMCA partnership: 125 summer day camp kids ages 7 and 8 come weekly 
during the summer for hour and a half gardening programs at our 4-H Teaching 
Garden.  In addition to a short learning activity, they plant their own 
"yardstick gardens", and then help tend our theme beds.

2. Manchester Housing Authority Community Gardens: 50 inner city kids, ages 4 
to 15 yrs old,  from all over the world, help to plant and tend two community 
gardens located at the housing projects where they live.  Like the one above, 
this structured program includes hands-on, minds-on activities in plant 
science and food and nutrition, as well as planting and tending.

3. Home Buddies: a program for families in which participants are welcome to 
attend monthly meetings with fun activities for families on gardening themes 
and then tend various theme gardens that families have adopted.

4. Helping Hands: families adopt patio beds at the nearby Hillsborough County 
Nursing Home.  They work with seniors, staff and a Master Gardener to help 
residents plant, tend, harvest and use their garden produce.

This program is assisted by Master Gardeners, Teen volunteers, UNH interns, 
UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H and Expanded Food And Nutrition staff and staff 
from the Manchester Housing Authority, YMCA and Hillsborough County Nursing 
Home.

Produce was donated to the Nursing Home and the Goffstown Food Pantry. An end 
of season Harvest  Celebration was held including pot luck supper for all 
participants, followed by an old time country "barn" dance (couldn't dance in 
the barn - too dark!) 

Would love to hear from anyone concerning ideas for...
    1. potential funding sources
    2. evaluation strategies
    3. methods to expand this program to include families and inmates from 
the     nearby  state correctional facility for women  
    4. more fun/interactive/hands-on/minds-on activities for kids, families 
and     seniors 
    5. ideas for theme gardens or garden structures to add interest to this 
garden  place for children and families 

Thank you!  It's almost winter in New Hampshire ... time to start dreaming as 
we thumb through seed catalogues

Julia Steed Mawson
Extension Educator, 4-H  Youth Development
UNH Cooperative Extension
329 Mast Rd.
Goffstown, NH 03045
603/624-9481
e mail at work: Julia. Mawson @ UNH.edu
e-mail at home: jsmawson@aol.com

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