The Junior Master Gardener program is an international youth gardening program of the university cooperative Extension network. JMG engages children in novel, “hands-on” group and individual learning experiences that provide a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivate the mind.   In spring 2019, JMG hosted a pilot test for their Early Childhood Learn, Grow, Eat & GO! Curriculum; the curriculum was developed around the six main plant parts and targeted four and five year olds.

Meade County 4-H Youth Development was chosen as one of the pilot sites and conducted two separate pilots.  The Fox and the Hound Child Care Center pilot site was a collaborative effort between the 4-H Youth Development Agent, the center’s owner/director, curriculum teacher and lead classroom teachers.  Thirty-two, four and five year old students completed the 4-week program as a part of their daily classroom routine, which was infused with learning all about plants during the pilot period.  The presentation of lessons was done collaboratively between the center’s lead teachers, the 4-H Youth Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources and Family & Consumer Sciences Agent from the Meade County Cooperative Extension Service.  

The 4-H Mini Master Gardeners pilot was held at the Meade County Extension and lead by the 4-H Youth Development Agent.  Five youth, along with their adult chaperones, attended weekly meetings for 4 weeks and participated in a down-scaled version of the original curriculum.   Participants also planted and maintained a mini garden behind the Extension office during this time; they planted tomatoes, green bell peppers, spinach, lettuce and basil.  Each week, the members worked in their garden cleaning, watering and harvesting the fruits of their labor when the opportunity presented itself.  From their harvest, members made salads with their lettuce and spinach, picked green bell peppers to take home and topped a homemade pizza with fresh basil.   Unfortunately, during the class sessions, the tomatoes were still growing, but these plants are currently producing lots of tomatoes that will be harvested and preserved for use in future 4-H cooking programs in Fall 2019.  So, not only did these members feed themselves, but they provided ingredients for future 4-H programs. 

One of the youth’s mothers from the Mini Master Gardeners pilot was asked what she would share with someone if asked about this program.  She stated, “It’s a great starter program/class for kids getting into 4-H and need to figure out a way for their kid to get involved and interact with the staff at the Extension Office.”  She went on to share, “Every day, she [her 5 year old child] would be so excited to talk about what she learned or how much fun she had at her class.”   When asked what her child had learned, the mother shared, “She actually popped off this morning that we needed fruit with breakfast and grabbed a tomato.  When I asked how she knew that was a veggie versus a fruit, she said [the 4-H Youth Development Agent]! She waters all our flowers because she understands that’s their food too.”

As stated earlier, the program lasted 4 weeks and focused on the six main parts of a plant: seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits.  Daily lessons created the connection between all six plant parts and helped youth to understand the dependence of one part on another.  The curriculum structure allowed for youth to have daily, hands-on lessons, nutritious recipes, physical activity opportunities, songs and literature connections.  

Throughout the pilots, lesson presenters completed feedback forms on the lessons to provide input in developing/shaping/improving the curriculum.   The pilot goal was to return 20 feedback forms; The Fox and the Hound pilot program returned 31 forms, therefore the pilot team will be credited in the final publication and will receive a comp copy of the publication once it is published.  Plans are underway to implement the curriculum in spring 2020 for a new set of 4-H Mini Master Gardeners.