2023 Kids Garden Contest Summer Results

Dave here:  As the summer of 2023 winds down, the Kids Garden Contest participants shared the results from their gardens in which they planted, tended and harvested.  As with any garden project the kids had varying results, but we saw some great produce come from their gardens. 

Transition Town Jericho thanks the Town of Jericho Select Board members for sponsoring the Kids Garden Contest again in 2023. This financial gift allowed TTJ to purchase the supplies that were needed for the kids to get their gardens started.

The kids answered some survey questions to let us know how it went:

List the plants you chose to grow in your garden: 
-Cucumber tomato pumpkin peppers string beans corn other squash
-Yellow scallop summer squash
-Cherry tomatoes, beets, radishes, snap peas, and cucumber
-Basil, tomatoes, arugula, calendula, onions, beans, sunflowers
-carrots, pumpkins, sunflowers, pole beans, oregano, garlic, tomatoes, jalapenos, spinach, boston lettuce, strawberries
-Zucchini, potato, basil and string beans

Compare the taste of your vegetables with those you would buy at a grocery store
-My cucumbers were juicy compared to groceries
-The scallop summer squash was so yummy roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper!
-The strawberries were sweeter than at a grocery store
-The carrots were sweet and delicious!
-Basil and arugula where better than the store, we didn't have as much luck with the other plants
-Homegrown is always best, but this season brought challenges and we had a very sorry garden this year.
-My potatoes were the family favorite at a recent family pot luck dinner!

Did you have unexpected visitors to your garden?
-I saw worms, ground bugs, flying bugs, underground bugs
-Due to the compost, bugs loved the garden. We saw lots of worms and bugs in the soil when we had to dig it up!
-Frogs!🐸
-Yes, something ate most of our cucumbers! We saw lots of bugs too.
-There weren't too many visitors to the garden other than snails.
-Lots of baby bunnies (so cute- but so destructive)
-We did see bugs, worms, and grubs, but did not have any problems with our harvest

When you plant your garden next year, what things would you change and why would you change them?
-We would make the spaces bigger so our squash has more room
-We hope to plant a new garden this year and plan to make it bigger. We learned a lot from the process of making this garden and look forward to growing lots of flowers and vegetables!
-I would put my tomatoes in a green house so it's hotter
-We will cover the plants right away so the animals don’t eat them. We will also label the plants as soon as seeds go in the ground
-Different tomato plants and add zinnias
-We will rotate our garden beds and move the raised beds away from the chicken run. We had the raised beds fenced off- but our chickens still liked to get involved.
-I will plant the potatoes farther apart so they increase in size.

Any other comment or story you would like to share with us about your garden experience
-Our experience being first timers was good. We were actually able to grow things
-Thank you for the education you provided when dropping off the garden supplies. We learned a lot and had fun even though our garden experience this year didn't turn out as expected.
-This was a good starting experience. We learned a lot and are excited to try again next year. Thank you!
-Juniper noticed the tomato plants didn't start off. They looked dead but came back to life. Dad didn't think they were going to make it but Juniper believed they would. It took all summer but they came back.
-Hoping for a drier and less flooded summer next year!
-We THANK YOU for your generosity in gifting us this garden.