Author: Lorilee Kunze
Planning Unit: Bullitt County CES
Major Program: Community Gardens and Horticulture Therapy
Plan of Work: Natural Resources and the Environment
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Horticultural therapy is a proven method for relieving stress, improving wellbeing, building confidence, learning steam subjects and building relationships. This program partners Extension with the Sunrise Home for boys. The Extension service offers hands on demonstration and cooperation planning, planting and maintaining a therapeutic garden space for 18 young boys in the Sunrise home. Working together the boys formed bonds that help them develop better communication skills, they learned to successfully grow their own fruits and vegetables, gained confidence and built self-esteem. They tried new types of foods because they had pride in having grown them. One of the boys involved in this project insisted on planting carrots because he wanted to cook with them. He was very excited to have his own row of carrots in the garden. Additionally, another boy wasn't interested in vegetables and wanted to plant flowers in containers. We accommodated and honored his request, allowing for room for several containers of flowering plants. He was very proud and protective of his container garden. This horticulture therapy project is part of a larger outreach by the Extension. Both the FCS program and the Agriculture program are also working with Sunrise home on various nutrition and wildlife programs as well.
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