2015 Annual Report

SEDRO-WOOLLEY CLUB
POSITIVE SPROUTS: Home-Grown Fruits & Veggies
by Interim Club Director,
Shane Collins
The Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide improve
children’s habits of health and nutrition
through community gardening, and the
Sedro-Woolley Club is no exception. Gardening
provides the ideal mechanism to teach youth
about nutrition; not only do children become
engaged in the process of growing food for
themselves, but they also appreciate the improvement
in taste and texture detectable in
their own home-grown fruits and vegetables.
Growing a garden can sound very appealing, but it can
also seem intimidating. Our Positive Sprouts program
is designed to make gardening more manageable
by teaching kids the basics.
Our Members
look forward to
another strong garden
in 2016; prepping dirt,
taking soil temperatures,
digging up tubers and
planting seeds.
During 2015 our garden was exceptional,
providing our Club with fresh
fruits and vegetables, as well as
amazing flowers. Our Dahlia’s
were especially vibrant, providing
fresh cut flowers for our
Club and Community, yielding
all the way into October.
Volunteer support and involvement
are vital to the
success of any community
garden. Our local expert and
long-time volunteer, Cookson
Beecher, has been instrumental
in the development, design,
and implementation of our Club
garden. Specializing in Dahlias,
Cookson helped our Members
grow prize-worthy flowers. As per
tradition, our Members were
able to present a lovely assortment
of Dahlias to our
neighboring Cascade Middle
School. Dahlia arrangements
adorned our front
desk throughout the late
summer and fall. Our garden
also provided a platform for
plant donations and a community
service project.
During the summer our fresh fruit and
veggies complimented our snack program. Our Members
picked, prepped, and served these extra goodies. The supply
of cherry tomatoes was especially plentiful.
Our Members look forward to another strong garden in 2016;
prepping dirt, taking soil temperatures, digging up tubers,
and planting seeds. Our Club garden will provide opportunities
to connect with nature, learn skills in environmental
stewardship, and improve habits of health and nutrition.
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