The young gardeners who have spent their summer learning to grow vegetables at Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac hosted a community barbecue on Aug. 5 to celebrate the end of their camp and raise some money for future projects.
Jardin Éducatif is a non-profit organization in Litchfield that runs vegetable farming programs for youth as a way to teach them critical life skills.
This year’s 13 participants took turns serving up hot dogs and hamburgers to passersby who stopped in to get an inside look at the garden facilities, while several assistant gardeners – returning employees from last year’s program – also worked the garden’s kiosk, selling fresh vegetables grown mere meters away.
“We want the kids to engage themselves in the funding of the organization, but its more for the community aspect,” said Melissa Langevin, head gardener and youth worker with the organization.
Shawville resident Addison Williams was one of 24 local youth who participated in the organization’s pilot employment program last summer, which hired the teens to work in the garden full-time rather than bringing them in as camp participants as it had in previous years.
Williams was among the five youth from last year rehired as assistant gardeners this year.
“I thought it was pretty cool that I was able to come back. It was pretty special that they wanted to rehire us,” she said.
“We’re really lucky to be able to have this job, because of the outings we do and all the fun things we get to do with the camp kids.”
Cameron Crawford, another gardener rehired from last year, said he enjoyed the work.
“It feels really good to be able to help people and provide for the community and stuff,” he said, also noting he has learned a lot about the world of vegetables through this work.
“People buy a lot of different [vegetables] than I thought they would. [ . . . ] I didn’t know what bok choy was before I worked here.”
Langevin said the Jardin didn’t get the same funding it did last year that permitted it to hire the youth rather than host them as campers.
That meant that this year’s program was once again designed as a summer camp, rather than as a job.
The participants still spent several mornings a week helping with farm tasks, but spent afternoons doing various field trips, activities and workshops.
Langevin said she believes this model – of hiring a small group of youth as assistant gardeners, and bringing in a larger group of younger youth as camp participants – is one that could work longterm.
“I think it could be a good thing to have older kids being a model for the younger kids, and then it’s easier to have gardeners who are trained and engaged in their job,” she said, noting how helpful it has been to have a group of employees who already have experience in the garden.
“They already know what we’re doing, how we’re working, what we need to do. It’s helping us, too, to be able to keep the kids year after year.”
Langevin said this year’s growing season has been slow, due to the hot weather and lack of rain.
“The veggies are growing, but it’s short and slow, so plants that normally would be super high are at my knees. [ . . . ] So the harvesting is not good for now. The plants are coming, but I don’t know when.”
Also slow, she said, is the construction of the new greenhouse and small transformation kitchen on the garden’s property, but she said she’s hopeful the team will be able to begin using these facilities next season.
