Military base kids enjoy coaxing food from ground

Ventura County Star
By Marjorie Hernandez
Posted August 3, 2009 at 12:01 a.m.

Randall Smalls smiled as he carefully cut slits in a small packet of potable soil and inserted a handful of seeds.

“It’s going to be a Chinese garden,” Randall, 9, said as he gently pushed the seeds of Chinese chives jiu cai and gau choy into the soil. “When they grow, you will get to see how pretty they get. I’m excited.”

On a recent Thursday at the Port Hueneme Youth Center at Naval Base Ventura County, about 20 second- and third-graders learned some basic skills to start their own vegetable gardens during a visit by Susan Gloeckler, the Ventura County 4-H youth development supervisor.

The workshop was part of a new initiative to create 4-H programs at U.S. military bases across the world, Gloeckler said.

“The whole idea to put 4-H in the military bases is so that when parents get transferred to another base, there will be another program the children can feel at home with,” she said.

In Ventura County, children who attended summer camps at the base’s Port Hueneme and Point Mugu youth centers participated in various 4-H exercises and visited local farms.

Stacey Tamai, youth program leader at Point Mugu, said the children have already finished several 4-H projects, including a “pizza and salsa garden” filled with vegetables and fruits used to make those two dishes.

“It’s a good mix of hands-on projects as well as discussion in a classroom setting,” Tamai said.

The kids get hands-on experience and are taught by Gloeckler and volunteers from local 4-H clubs.

“It makes the children think about the process and where their food comes from,” said Amber Melendez, the base’s Port Hueneme youth director. “This gives them a complete experience.”

Glen Sanders, a graduate of the UC Cooperative Extension’s master gardener program, visited the children at Port Hueneme and talked about the “hamburger plant.” In this exercise, Sanders led the young gardeners as they explored the agricultural roots of the contents of a burger— buns, meat and vegetables.

Gloeckler showed the kids a long piece of celery and described how each part can be consumed.

The children were then treated to their own small cup of salad and ranch dressing.

“They even asked for seconds ... when do you see that?” Gloeckler said.

The children also lit up when they received some special visitors — Remy, a gray and white mini-lop rabbit, and Hogan, a tricolored mini-rex rabbit.

Jenean Bass and daughter Brenda, volunteers for the Conejo Valley 4-H, brought the rabbits to the camp and taught the children about differences between the two.

“It’s important that kids interact with animals, and 4-H provides kids that opportunity,” said Brenda Bass, now a student at UC Davis. “It gives city kids a different perspective.”

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/aug/03/military-base-kids-enjoy-coaxing-food-from/

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