[Image: master gardener virgina dean and county agent andre brock]Feliciana Master Gardeners are off to a good start already, though their classes and certification have only recently begun. Our local chapter of the statewide LSU AgCenter program took time out in April to volunteer gardening education time with a local nursing home, St. Francisville Country Manor. Many residents of the nursing home benefit from more activities, a point stressed by the home’s activities director Hope Walker.
With this in mind, Master Gardeners decided to help the residents plant a garden in their backyard activity area. The work started well in advance (in March) by building a wheelchair-accessible raised bed, as well as a longer bed along a side fence for climbing vegetables. Pat’s Hardware generously donated building materials, fertilizer, and gardening tools.
Then in April volunteers helped the residents plant tomatoes, sweet peppers, watermelons, cucumbers[Image: tommy eaves and walter ebel], cantaloupes, beans and squash. Seeds and seedlings were donated by Jerry Landrum and by LSU’s Horticulture Department. The Master Gardeners, with help from 4-H Junior Leader volunteers Darcey Walsh and Sarah Brian, also taught the residents about the long-term care of the garden. Tommy Eaves and Walter Ebel were especially enthusiastic and helpful on the day of the planting.
Since planting, the residents have been taking care of the garden’s maintenance. They take turns weeding, watering, and fertilizing
the p[Image: virginia dean and walter ebel]lants, and it is coming along nicely. The well-cared-for garden will soon yield squashes and tomatoes. Other crops will surely
follow close behind, and the nursing home residents are enjoying the many joys and responsibilities of having their own garden in
their own backyard.