Success Story4-H Mini Master Gardener Pilot Program Introduces Youth to Gardening



4-H Mini Master Gardener Pilot Program Introduces Youth to Gardening

Author: Alexandria Bryant

Planning Unit: Breckinridge County CES

Major Program: 4-H Agriculture Core Curriculum AND Natural Resources

Plan of Work: Building life skills through youth programming

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

The need for nutrition education is great in Kentucky, as it is a relatively poor state with a heavy burden of chronic disease related to poor nutrition practices. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey provides data on overweight Kentucky youth and reveals that our youth rank 15.6% compared to the nationwide 12.7%.  From a dietary standpoint less than 20% of high school students meet the dietary recommendation for fruit and vegetable consumption. In 2019, the 4-H Mini Master Gardener program was held, as a 5-week pilot program for 17, 4-5 year old youth. This program introduced youth to gardening basics and allowed youth to taste test new fruits and vegetables, including produce from their own garden. Breckinridge County 4-H and the Public Library collaborated on this pilot program to evaluate and provide feedback for the new Early Childhood Learn, Grow, Eat & Go curriculum from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The program was led by 6 4-H volunteers, Master Gardeners, Extension Staff, and Library Staff.   The curriculum provided hands-on lessons on roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit, in addition to stories, songs, and taste-testing of healthy recipes. The volunteers completed evaluations on each individual lesson, song, story, and recipe as a requirement of the pilot program. The agent submitted the feedback forms online. In addition to the curriculum, youth planted raised bed vegetable and herb gardens at the public library, maintained the garden, and harvested produce. Results from informal feedback from journal entries completed by participants and parent feedback indicated that youth enhanced their understanding of the structure and function of different plant parts. Youth also tried new fruits and vegetables, taste-tested new recipes, and started container gardens at home (100%). Two of the participants shared they “now love celery and spinach” and another shared that she “had never tried kiwis before.”  






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