Thibodaux Recreation gets youth active in gardening program

By age 10, most children are playing with friends, watching Nickelodeon or thinking of new ways to play make believe. The last place one would expect them to be is planting vegetables in a garden.

But that’s just how a handful of local elementary school children spent their afternoon last week. The effort is to enrich Thibodaux’s youth while they have fun. The Thibodaux Recreation Department strayed from its traditional programs of flag football, basketball, co-ed volleyball and baseball and decided to add gardening to the mix.

Thibodaux Recreation Director Ron Alcorn said the program is part of the mayor’s after school tutoring program that is offered to children from third through fifth grades.

It teaches them creative ways to retain what they’ve learned in math, science and health by using various curriculums, everywhere from local 4-H groups to National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

“This program is an international youth gardening program that engages children on the individual learning experience with a love for gardening,” Alcorn said. “Hopefully, these kids can develop an appreciation for the environment.”

With the help of the LSU AgCenter and the Lafourche Parish 4-H clubs, Alcorn was able to bring the gardening program to Thibodaux.

A group of seven children took to Martin Luther King Park last Monday afternoon and planted their first vegetables – cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

The TREC department chose the location because it is one of the most beautiful looking parks in Thibodaux and it already had a lot of activities going on at the other park in Thibodaux, Peltier Park, Alcorn said.

Barton Joffrion of the LSU AgCenter and Racquel Nettles, program coordinator for the mayor’s after-school tutoring program, were on hand to help teach gardening to the four boys and three girls in attendance.

Joffrion said the LSU AgCenter helps out with programs like this one because they are trying to install gardening programs in some of the local schools.

“It teaches kids how to grow fresh veggies,” he said. “It keeps them active, keeps them outside and it teaches them how to stay healthy. These kids learn that vegetables don’t just come from a can, it’s something you have to take care of.”

Nettles said it was good to finally have the program up and running after being delayed for some time.

“We are very excited to be able to get these kids to learn hands on,” she said. “It’s a good firsthand experience.

“All the kids paid attention and I am surprised they all took to it because at that age their attention spans are very short,” she continued.

In all, the planting, watering and teaching took about 30 minutes.

By the time they were finished, many were asking when they would be able to eat the vegetables they planted.

Unfortunately, Nettles announced, the children will not be able to indulge in the fruits – or vegetables – of their labor. The crops will be harvested in 60 days; sometime in mid-January; and all of the produce collected will be donated to the local food bank for needy families.

A fence was placed around the garden last Tuesday to prevent people from damaging the vegetables.

The seven will, however, be able to care for the plants as they begin to sprout.

One of those children, Tyrese Fletcher, 10, of Thibodaux, said he enjoyed learn gardening skills.

“They got us to learn how to plant,” the youngster said. “When we have kids, we can show them how to plant gardens too. It’ll be fun to eat them when they grow.”

Now that the program is officially up and running, Alcorn said there are future plans to expand it.

He hopes to implement a spring garden session with the possibility of a summer.

“We want to make sure we have something that is a concrete and developed program,” Alcorn explained. “We wanted to start out small and see how it worked and then try to expand among the community and at different sites.

“Adding this curriculum inspires the children,” he added. “Hopefully it will allow the youth to explore their world through meaningful possibilities and in community involvement.”

Gardeners (from left) Matthew Dumas Jr, Drew Bergeron, Tyrese Fletcher, Kaia Chiasson, Karyn Wilson and Tierra Johnson plant cabbage as Barton Joffrion of the LSU AgCenter instructs them on what to do. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER