The Macon County 4H Club stopped by the library on Thursday to teach kids about how gardeners and farmers provide us with the food we eat in a program called Sowing Seeds for Our Table.
In the latest installment of the library’s summer series for kids, Tammara Talley and Deborah Hunter from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension set up several stations about gardening for the kids to experiment with. They got to examine seeds underneath a microscope to see what they’re made of, construct homemade rain gauges for more effective watering and even start growing their own plants in a plastic cup using the basic gardening elements of soil, water, air and warmth. The oldest kids present were still in elementary school, so for many of them, it was their first experience with gardening.
“It starts out small, but then you put it in water and it gets all puffy,” said six-year-old Cody Dombroskie after using a soil pellet to start growing his plant.
The library’s children’s department has been operating mostly through take-home activities since the pandemic shut down the majority of library operations last spring, so they’re making the most out of being back to in-person. The summer series has focused on nature and the outdoors so far, with last week’s event showcasing local reptile species with help from Balsam Mountain Trust. It’s been a welcome return to form for regulars at the library.
“We’ve been taking home the activity bags and doing the summer reading program and everything,” mother Morgan Price said. “We love the library.”
With school out for the summer, the 4H Club will be running lots of activities for kids centered on nutrition, agriculture and outdoor sports. In addition to their schedule for the Cooperative Extension, they’ll head back to the library a few times for Kim Terrell’s fitness class and another Thursday morning program in July. Talley said now is a great time to educate kids through active and outdoorsy means and Sowing Seeds for Our Table is a perfect example of how.
“Everybody can garden at home,” Talley said. “It’s a great way for kids to learn about science.”
The next Thursday morning program at the Macon County Public Library will be a presentation about deer from Patrick Brannon of the Highlands Biological Station. It will begin at 10 a.m. on June 24. Attendance is limited to 25 people, infants not included. For more information on upcoming events and to reserve spots, call the library at 828-524-3600 or visit them online at www.fontanalib.org/franklin.