All in a day’s pumpkin…
The pumpkin program is a staple here at Rotary Botanical Gardens. It gives children in the surrounding schools a chance to make a mess, get outside, and learn something new all at the same time. From counting seeds to identifying leaves, the pumpkin program offers opportunities for children to grow like the little orange seed filled squashes they are.
When we have the pumpkin program, we start the day out by dividing into the classroom groups and the prairie tour groups. It’s really just to determine who goes on the tour first and who gets to learn about pumpkins first.
A lot of our educational volunteers are retired teachers whose passion for molding today’s youth shines through every word, every action, and every smile. Barb in particular is an encyclopedia of nature and gardening knowledge. We at Rotary Botanical Gardens are so lucky to have volunteers like her!
After everyone is situated into where they’re going, the tours and the program kick off. Inside the classroom here at Rotary Botanical Gardens, the education volunteers teach the children to measure the circumference of a pumpkin, they figure out how many seeds it has, this is the math part of the program. (How fun!). They also teach them about the different varieties of pumpkin, (did you know there are hundreds of varieties? This author didn’t.)
Meanwhile, the prairie tour is in full swing. Rotary Botanical Gardens is working toward a prairie restoration project. Which means we have a field that is filled with native plants that come back every year to ensure native plants and wildlife have a place to go that is as close to their home as it can be. Our education volunteers take these classes through the weeds (literally!) to show them how to identify the different plants that can be found in our field. They go through how the root systems of prairie plants are longer than one would think, and deeper in the ground to be able to reach water in times of drought.
The pumpkin program is run every year in October, and we take donations of pumpkins every year too! Thank you to all our volunteers and thank to the schools in our Janesville community who keep the program running. We love seeing the kids here every year and we can’t wait for next year!
All Photos were taken by Rotary Botanical Gardens Marketing team.