NYS Garden Winds Down, 4-H Club Begins

By Tanjua Damon

Some Newtown kids had green thumbs, or better yet dirty ones, after planting and weeding the garden sponsored by Newtown Youth Services. More is yet to come after school starts and the new 4-H Club begins for fourth and fifth graders and middle school students.

NYS planted the garden for the first time this year with help from the Cooperative Extension from UConn with services from Master Garden Candidate Bob Johnson. NYS hired Jonathan Aragones, youth program director, just over six weeks ago; but now he takes care of the garden.

“The garden is finishing up,” Mr Aragones said. “They began putting it together before I came.”

Kate Bamberg, 9, attends Middle Gate School and has worked in the garden periodically throughout the summer. She enjoyed her time in the garden and all the information she learned while tending to it.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Kate said. “I learned that some weeds you can’t pick because they have prickly things on the stem. You have to take good care to make things get big.”

Kate enjoyed a few things while working in the garden, but three things stood out in her mind.

“Knowing you’re making things grow and working with people,” she said. “On the first day I came, we were digging holes to plant the beans and dirt got all in my fingernails. Knowledge of telling plants apart from their leaves.”

She offered the following advice to others that might consider working in future gardens provided by NYS: “I think they should do it because it is a lot of fun,” Kate said. “You learn a lot of stuff about plants and weeds, and how to grow different things.”

Nancy Bamberg, Kate’s mother, said the garden is a good idea because it gives students an opportunity to experience something they may never have experienced before.

 “I think it’s great,” she said.  “I think it’s a great learning experience for her to come out and work with other kids.”

Now that autumn is just around corner and the garden has produced just about everything that it can, a new club will be offered through NYS – the 4-H club. There will be two groups, a fourth and fifth grade group, and a middle school group. Mr Aragones would like to see 20 students in each group. He will begin recruiting participants once school begins.

Mr Aragones hopes to provide students with experiences with the wildlife and nature right here in Newtown.

“I want to get kids outside and get their hands dirty,” he said. “I want to get kids more involved with their environment, getting them interested in biology and the outside.”

The club is new to NYS, but 4-H is not a new concept. Although Mr Aragones knows it may be something new to offer, he is excited about what he will be able to contribute to the youth in the Newtown area.

“4-H is kind of new here, but at Cornell it’s kind of big because of their extension service,” he said.  “I like the idea of using what I’ve learned with kids and getting them involved with projects.” The 4-H groups will have an opportunity to explore nature identification, garden planning, crafts and projects, birds and animals, seeds, terrariums, and field trips. The fourth and fifth grade group will meet on Mondays from 3:15 to 4:30 pm starting September 18, and middle schoolers will meet on Wednesdays from 4 to 5:15 pm beginning September 20. Both groups will meet at Newtown Youth Services, located at 41A Main Street. There is no charge to be a member of the 4-H Club.

Mr Arogones received his bachelor’s degree in Horticulture and Wild Life Biology from Unity College in Maine, and his Master’s in Landscape Design from Cornell University in New York.

For more information about the 4-H Club, please call Newtown Youth Services at 203/270-4335.