Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Children's Education on October 11 2016, by Samantha Fletcher
September 17th’s 60th Anniversary celebration of the Children’s Gardening Program gave us the touching experience to see current participants, alumni, and instructors come together to reminisce about old memories and to create new ones. We had the opportunity to interview a few attendees to learn the impact the program had on their lives.
Posted in Children's Education on June 15 2015, by Plant Talk
On a recent misty Saturday morning, I found myself boarding a Garden tram bound for the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden along with 96 children enrolled in the Edible Academy’s Children’s Gardening Program for Crafters, an opportunity for kids ages six to 12 to experience gardening first-hand and to learn about the science behind plants and food.
Parents waved as their kids claimed their seats on the tram, one girl quickly asking whether her mom had packed her a change of clothes for later. She had, and told her daughter, “Have fun. Get dirty!”
The tram pulls away and steers us through low hills and around age-old trees until we arrive at the Family Garden. Eager children disembark and head toward the main garden gates, beyond which they gather with their small groups, divided by age.
It is in these small groups that they do special activities—learning about Gregor Mendel and plant genetics; writing in field notebooks they bound earlier in the program; and making crafts.
Posted in Children's Education, Learning Experiences on April 29 2015, by Plant Talk
A flock of migrating birds fly from one end of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden to the other, flapping their wings and erupting with birdcalls as they go. They’re migrating from New York to Mexico and back again.
There’s one in pink shorts, and another in a NYBG t-shirt. One in a sunhat swoops past a bed of lettuce. These “birds” are actually children participating in a nature activity in the Children’s Gardening Program.
One of them, young gardener Adena Zitrin, and her mother, Debra Asher-Zitrin, have participated in the Sprouts program, for kids ages 3 to 5, for the past two years.
“It’s unlike any class we’ve ever taken—and we’ve taken music, art, and gym classes,” Debra said. “There’s something very bonding that goes on between the parent and the child in CGP. It’s very sweet, the working together that goes on.”
Debra’s two older children also participated in Sprouts and are now Crafters, the program for kids ages 6 to 12.
Posted in Children's Education on April 16 2015, by Matt Newman
Each year, as spring sets in and the ground thaws, First Lady Michelle Obama takes to the White House’s Kitchen Garden to replant it for the season. Naturally, she doesn’t do this alone! Tackling the task alongside the First Lady this year were several of The New York Botanical Garden’s own greenthumbs who’d made the trek down to Washington, D.C., as part of the Let’s Move! fifth anniversary.
Students Nare Kande, a fourth-grader from Harlem; and Sarala Beepat, a sixth-grader from the Bronx; joined Toby Adams, the Director of NYBG’s Edible Academy, to help plant radish seeds, bok choy, and other vegetables with Mrs. Obama on April 15. Each student has plenty of experience planting and tending the vegetable beds of NYBG’s Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden as part of our Children’s Gardening Program, so they certainly had the skills needed to help kickstart spring at the White House.
Posted in Children's Education on March 13 2015, by Plant Talk
Pull on your galoshes and best gardening gloves, because spring is just two weeks away! Soon, kids ages 3–5 and 6–12 will learn about spring crops and beautiful early bloomers, like tulips and daffodils, in the Children’s Gardening Program, which kicks off later this month.
Kids in the Children’s Gardening Program learn about plant life, from soil all the way to the treetops. They get to take part in the process by planting their own veggie garden plots and digging for worms—key players in the composting and soil enrichment processes. There’s plenty more fun with songs, crafts, and nature-inspired activities that indulge in kids’ desire to know more about the inner workings of the environment around them.
Posted in Photography on May 22 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s radish season again in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden! And as we all know, they really do taste best straight from the ground, after a little rinse of course.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on June 20 2012, by Ann Rafalko
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden is a New York City treasure. No hyperbole–just ask anyone who has spent 10 minutes in this verdant acre. The Howell Family Garden has been the backyard garden for generations of New Yorkers. In the mornings it plays host to hundreds of schoolkids on a daily basis, and in the afternoons it is open to everyone. Just drop in, slow down, and enjoy. Pick a pea. Pull a weed. Plant a seed. It’s a bucolic oasis!
So I wanted to let you know about two opportunities available in July that will allow you to more fully enjoy the Family Garden in the height of summer.
Posted in Programs and Events on February 13 2012, by Matt Newman
Especially because this winter feels like an early springtime, it’s time to get excited for a new season of the Children’s Gardening Program at the two-acre Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. As of February 1, we opened registration for our popular Crafters and Sprouts for the spring, summer, and fall sessions.
Garden Sprouts introduces three- to five-year-olds and their accompanying parent to garden exploration, from digging for earthworms to planting seeds. Sprouts enjoy seasonal gardening tasks, the opportunity to sample garden-fresh produce grown in their own plots, and activities especially crafted for the young green thumb.
Posted in What's Beautiful Now on August 23 2011, by Ann Rafalko
The summer session of the Children’s Gardening program–where kids aged 5-12 work in pairs to cultivate and tend their own garden plot–is in full swing, and the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden is a hive of activity, bursting at the seams with produce and happy kids.
If the kids in your family want to get in on the gardening action, you can join in during Dig! Plant! Grow! which takes place daily (except on Mondays when the Garden is usually closed), beginning at 1:30 p.m. Digging, weeding, and harvesting aren’t the only activities going on in the Family Garden (read one visitor’s appreciation); there’s also cooking, Mario Batali’s Edible Garden, and tons of exploring to be done as well! And there are bees and bunnies. Oh, and it’s also really pretty!
Be sure to stop by on your next trip to the Garden, and while you’re here, snap a few photos to enter into the August NYBG-IGPOTY photo contest, “Kids in the Garden” featuring special Mario Batali prizes!
Posted in How-to, Video on August 3 2011, by Rustin Dwyer
The Children’s Gardening Program at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden gives kids ages 3-12 a chance to team-up to plant, tend and harvest their very own plot in the Garden. But that’s only half of the story — of course the most fun part is eating all of that homegrown produce!
Stop by the Family Garden to enjoy cooking demonstrations throughout the week, offering simple but delicious ideas on how to take advantage of our garden’s bounty. Our hands-on activities will help you to remember that growing, preparing and eating good food needs to be FUN!
All this month, the gardening fun in the Family Garden focuses on plants that are pickled. Enjoy the harvest of fresh cucumbers by making your own pickles to take home. For a rundown of what’s happening now, check the “plan your visit” section of our website.
Here’s a short video featuring two of the amazing staff members in the Family Garden, Rachel and Annie, showing you one of the easiest dishes around – a simple herb confetti. But as you’ll see, harvesting and preparing the dish is almost more fun than eating it!