Kids love getting their hands in the dirt and growing things. The natural world is even more fascinating when seen through the eyes of a child and they seem to take to gardening like a duck to water.
Six years ago Anne Boquist and other gardening enthusiasts started the Sooke Children’s Garden Club and the numbers of kids who want to take part has been growing steadily.
“There’s more kids than ever,” said Boquist. “We’re having six workshops instead of five now and it is growing in popularity.”
The club meets throughout the summer from May until October. All children from the age of three and up are welcome to attend and learn to grow. The club is free for families thanks to community sponsors.
At each “workshop” at the Sunriver Community Garden the gardeners take part in everything from environmental awareness, planting vegetables and flowers, they learn about healthy food and take part in garden crafts. They are divided into groups and alternate between the different “workshops.” Each year at the end of the season they make scarecrows. In May they will be learning about edible weeds.
The instruction comes for a group of 15 dedicated volunteers and they teach the young gardeners what they want. As an example, at the orientation meeting held on April 23, the kids learned how to make aprons out of old blue jeans and tasted kale chips. One of the intentions of the club is to encourage children to support the Sooke Fall Fair.
The Sooke Children’s Garden Club will be at the Rotary Auction and Spring Fair on May 2 at SEAPARC and parents can sign their children up, or they can email Anne Boquist at: aboquist@shaw.ca .