Have you heard that Munising now has a 4-H Youth Garden Club? Community gardening benefits participants and the larger community by supporting food security, promoting a healthy and aesthetic environment and improving mental and physical health through self expression, being part of a team, doing physical activity and promoting positive eating habits. Youth gain hands-on experience while also learning about food systems, the local environment, and learning by doing.
Tyreen Prunick, a Michigan State University Extension 4-H Program Coordinator, guides adult volunteers and youth participants and develops programs and partnerships in Alger County. Anne O’Neill volunteered for Exploration Days in spring 2023 and shared her dream of expanding her gardening activities to include a 4-H garden club with Tyreen. Anne has been practicing Master Gardening for 20 years and has upcoming retirement plans after 30 years of service as a social worker with the State of Michigan. Then, when visiting Mather Elementary School, Tyreen met special education teacher Joleen St. Amour who told her about attending, along with second grade teacher Tracy Wing and Native American Coordinator Carol Horne, a Farm to School Training at Partridge Creek Farm in Ishpeming last June. After the training the three teachers envisioned a school garden and outdoor learning space so they surveyed other teachers and found a desire for an outdoor classroom with sufficient seating, picnic tables and raised garden beds. But how would the garden be cared for during the summer and on other school breaks? Tyreen saw the perfect match, and brought Anne and Carol together to form the Alger County 4-H Youth Garden Club.
The Alger County 4-H Youth Garden Club and the Native American Education program proposed a partnership at Mather Elementary School that included raised garden bed space and water access. A Memorandum of Understanding was put into place with MSU Extension Alger County 4-H and Munising Public Schools. The year-round 4-H Club, currently consisting of 12 kids ages 7 to 14, meet to learn about and explore gardening and nature connections while developing and maintaining the gardening space provided at Mather Elementary School. Principal Tweedale tells us he is “very excited about this opportunity and the initiative that our teachers and community members have to get this project moving forward. If we can provide meaningful, long-lasting education to our students inside and outside of the classroom we’re doing it right.” Carol Horne added, “I have had the joy of working with youth in a garden setting before and I know Mather’s students and staff will be thrilled with the gardening opportunity.”
Tyreen credits the teachers with forming the foundation which allowed the quick start up of the club to support the vision.
The 4-H Youth Garden Club received $8,700 from Alger County Communities That Care via a grant for Outdoor Health. The majority of the grant was spent locally, with all the merchants providing tax exempt assistance. The club has used grant money to purchase stainless steel raised beds, two composters, three wagons/ dump carts, a garden shed, tools, soil, Dairy Doo, compost, seed starter mix, and more. Munising Public Schools Native American Education program received a grant from the Lions International District 10 with matching funds from the Munising Lions. The local Lions have also extended an offer to volunteer as needed.
Currently the club meets every other Tuesday after school in the daycamp room at Alger Parks & Rec. During the summer, the club will meet at the MSU Extension Office and at the Mather Elementary garden site and will increase the number of meetings seasonally to maintain the garden beds. So far the participants have started seeds, including onions, yellow squash, pumpkins, marigolds, zinnias, and tomatoes are working on vision boards, have explored seed catalogs and will soon begin using graph paper to plot the garden. When asked their favorite activity of the club meetings, the club members excitedly called out “digging in the dirt!” The youth are most looking forward to planting strawberries, peppers, carrots, and more flowers.
Alger County 4-H invites youth ages 7 to 19 in 2nd 12th grade to join the fun of digging in the dirt! Please contact Anne O’Neill at annieoneill2@ gmail.com for instructions to join. Sign your youth up today to grow with the green! There is no enrollment fee for Michigan 4-H so sign up today!
