WHAT: Hands-on activities including learning how to grow and tend vegetables from around the world, and a ribbon cutting ceremony unveiling the Rutgers Gardens’ theme, “Our Planet, Plant It.”
WHEN: Tues., May 28, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m
WHERE: Rutgers Gardens, 112 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ.
WHO: Several classrooms of kids, grades 3-5, from neighboring schools in New Brunswick and Highland Park, Rutgers Gardens staff and volunteers.
BACKGROUND: In February and March this year, Rutgers Gardens’ staff visited classrooms and conducted hands-on activities designed to connect the students to how food is grown and introduce them to unusual vegetables around the world. The kids explored questions like, “How far does food travels before you eat it?” “How does our food grow?” and “Where were our foods first grown?” The classroom visits also included a planting activity, using a variety of seeds from common and unusual vegetables.
About the Rutgers Gardens:
The Rutgers Gardens boasts one of the largest collections of American hollies in the U.S. A self sustaining operation, open 365 days a year, it’s one of the few botanical gardens in the country that does not charge an entrance fee. The Rutgers Gardens hosts a wide range of public activities to provide support for the care of over 180 acres of maintained and natural areas, and offers a diversity of educational programs. It serves multiple roles for Rutgers students and visitors alike, including providing an educational setting in which to promote and provide accurate information about public horticultures, the connection between plants, human health and nutrition. For more information contact Deborah Henry, coordinator of Children’s Programs at the Rutgers Gardens, at 732-932-8451, or by email at dhenry@aesop.rutgers.edu.
