Darlington students get their hands dirty at the library
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Childhood is made up of dirt, laughter and learning experiences. All three of those can be found at the Darlington Library, especially now that the Children’s Garden is coming to fruition.
Feb. 21 and 22 two groups, after-school students and those who come weekly for the Homeschool Hub, worked to build flower beds and pull weeds in the garden.
Liz Davis pours fertilizer in the raised beds in the children’s garden before students spread the dirt evenly around.
Gwen Robinson, branch manager at the Darlington Library, said that through the efforts of library staff and community partners the garden is and will be a wonderful tool.
“We had a renovation in May of 2015,” Robinson said. “The children’s area moved and there was this beautiful window setting and there were a lot of trees and this area was not used for anything. It was my vision that I wanted a community garden and why not have it at the library where we could introduce children to something they may not encounter at home or at school. We have the seed to table aspect that we are hoping to reach.”
Wednesday afternoon, the homeschool students assembled four flowerbeds. After they were put together, newspaper was added to cover the grass inside the bed and dirt was poured in.
Robinson said that the wood for the flower boxes had pre-drilled holes that would make it easier for children and young teens to assemble the boxes, even if they had no prior experience using hand tools.
“Kids who have never held a drill before are going to get to experience that,” Robinson said. “We are putting the newspaper down and explaining to them why we are doing that. Yesterday, with the afterschool kids, we had a lot of fun getting our hand dirty and explaining to them how the dirt we were using was different than the dirt on the ground out here.”
Liz Davis who is in charge of student services at the library.
“This is a dream come true,” Davis said. “We’ve been plotting and planning this garden pretty much since Gwen, Mr. Epling and I came on board. We have some many other things we have in store and up our sleeves. To see something we’ve been working so hard on come together is just almost surreal.”
Davis echoed Robinson’s sentiments when it came to using the things grown in the garden to teach students about food. Davis already has a cooking program at the library and she said that she hopes to be able to incorporate some of the garden’s harvest.
“The way my cooking program goes, one month we cook something sweet and another month we’ll cook something savory; I try to make it as healthy as possible,” Davis said. “I am choosing a healthier path for myself and I am trying to influence the little ones here too.”
When asked what types of things they would like to see grown in the garden, some of the students said carrots and mint. Robinson said that she would like to see peppers, tomatoes and maybe some variety of squash.
Donations and volunteers helped make the garden start to bloom. In order to keep the garden thriving, more donations and volunteers will be needed. Any and all types of help are welcomed.
For more information about the garden, visit the Darlington Library at 204 N. Main Street in Darlington.