[Image: Henry Andrews with Overall Winning Garden]YOUNG GARDENERS ARE SPROUTING UP ALL OVER WEBSTER PARISH!
The Piney Hills Master Gardeners have encouraged 4-H'ers to participate in a parish-wide gardening contest for three years. The young gardeners are required to build a 100-sqaure-foot garden containing corn, bell peppers, tomatoes and beans. They are allowed to have help preparing their soil for the garden but have been on their own from planting until judging. They are also allowed to have a Master Gardener as a mentor to help them through the season. A team of judges travels the parish, viewing the gardens and considering the following: the gardener's knowledge, creativity, weed control and the general health of each required plant. To end the contest, each participant is recognized at an awards dinner for them and their families.
The Piney Hills Master Gardeners commend all of the students for participating in the garden contest and learning the art of gardening. Even though most have said they weren't fond of the weeding process, all participants were proud to bring food to their family's table. This year some of the gardeners even presented the judges with a journal of their work in the garden. The judges have been impressed with the quality of the gardens, creativity and thought given to the process, and with each participant's endurance to finish the program. The judging process gets harder each year!
One of the things about the gardening contest that has impressed us the most is how much some of the gardeners have improved over time. In fact, the gardening bug also seems to spread through the family. When the judges visited Henry Andrews in 2006, he had been weeding his garden spot by hand. His vegetables had problems. And he was a little frustrated. We encouraged his mom to buy him a hoe and gave them some helpful hints. When the judges returned this year, the whole landscape was changed[Image: Valerie Morgan with 2nd Place Overall Garden]! Mom learned that she loved flower gardening. Henry's garden was four-tiered, with towering vegetables, and completed with a lattice wall of pictures and outline of his work. His decorations emphasized how his garden impacted his nutrition. The judges were in awe at the transformation, and of course, Henry's garden won first place overall this year.