Whitley County 4-H has added another club to its agenda. The Cloverbud's met for the first time in February and they learned about the importance of vegetables and how to plant them. This club meets monthly and learns about different topics each month. Each year we gather as an extension office and offer our services and information to the county along with hands-on activities for Earth Day. This year we will be at the Green Space in downtown Williamsburg celebrating Earth Day. They earned their Green Thumb award after planting all the vegetables that we give away during the Earth Day Celebration. The Cloverbud's planted all the ingredients for a salsa garden and received information on how to start their own gardens at home.  

Gardening among youth isn't as popular as it used to be but the interest in plants in young people are growing. There are always opportunities to garden no matter how big or small the space is. Some folks start out with a window or porch garden and eventually move their way up to larger gardens. Raised garden beds are another wonderful way to begin gardening. According to the National Gardening Association, more people are gardening and spending more money on lawn and garden retail plants and products than ever before. 

During the Cloverbud meetings, youth learned about gardening, soil composition and pollinators. Materials are broken down in soil by decomposers that aid in growth of plants. Plant pollination is important and how we wouldn't have certain vegetables that require cross pollination. We definitely would not have honey without pollination. 

Pollinators are declining in numbers due to pollution, pesticides, and disease. We can help pollinators through the conservation of pollinator habitats. This summer our goal is to break ground on our butterfly garden at the extension office. We will involve the youth in a service project and will be open to the public for viewing and educational classes. We hope this motivates others to create pollinator gardens or plant pollinator-friendly plants (native is best) in lawns, hedgerows, and other urban greenspaces that may lack flowering plants.