The Bolling Air Force Base's Fun Club 4-H club with Spencer Ellsworth, Interim Manager of Common Good City Farm, Chris Coggins, UDC 4-H Extension Agent and Diane Brewster, 4-H Volunteer Leader.
4-H’ers in the nation’s Capitol are at work growing produce for their community right in the middle of the city. The University of the District of Columbia 4-H Club has partnered with the Common Good City Farm to grow produce and provide educational opportunities in gardening for residents of the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
At the Common Good City Farm site, 4-H youth and adults learn how to grow and eat healthy foods through activities such as container gardening and cooking classes. Youth can visit the garden anytime afterschool or on Saturdays to help their community live a healthier lifestyle.
“Youth learn about where their food comes from” through this program, said Chris Coggins, University of the District of Columbia 4-H Extension Agent.
“4-H youth and adults gain experience in the whole process- from the garden to the table.”
To recruit community members to the gardening project, 4-H Clubs in the District of Columbia 4-H held a “Skill-a-Thon” kick-off event on April 24. Stations were set up in the garden to allow neighbors the experience of different types of gardening, and to spark an interest in the project.
The Bolling Air Force Base’s Fun Club 4-H club came out to explore plant life at the farm. They learned about the environment while making “grow cards,” greeting cards that can be planted. The cards helped the 4-H’ers discuss solutions for recycled paper and materials that could be used as compost at the farm. They also assisted in watering the plants, created a new bed for vegetables and helped with “thinning,” removing weeds around vegetable and flower seedlings. Thinning crowded seedlings reduces competition for the water, nutrients and sunlight that the seedlings need to grow and is important to producing high quality crops.
4-H’ers also participated in several Junior Master Gardening activities to gain a better understanding of what plants need to survive. They held a “P.L.A.N.T. Needs” discussion where students looked for similarities between plants and people and also shared their knowledge by creating “know and show” hats that were made from recycled newspaper. The youth decorated their hats with different art supplies to demonstrate what plants need to grow.
“The Fun club 4-H members enjoyed working on the farm, knowing that the food went to various D.C. agencies to help those less fortunate,” said Coggins.
The project attracted the attention of USDA, and in May the program was featured on the White House blog.
Abby Swegel, a member of Bolling Air Force Base's Fun Club 4-H club, demonstrates the importance of water to plants.