For Our Youth, the club will close the 2024 season

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The last For Our Youth club meeting of the year took place on October 19 at leader Melody Smilie’s home. We had a great turnout for a fun party.

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Leaders Heather Newman and Melody got everyone off some energy in Melody’s spacious backyard before regrouping to sing our club song and be present.

The Roll Call question this month was, “Tell the group about something you grew this year.” The answers ranged from tomatoes to potatoes to the lavender cuttings that members potted at the BBFG during our August meeting. Everyone was eager to share their gardening successes and failures. It sounded like a fantastic summer for tomatoes!

Melody talked to the group about our potato growing experiment and had the members guess which method produced the most potatoes: potted potatoes or field grown potatoes? We talked about why the potatoes grown in the ground grew the best, with members citing better soil, more worms and more room to grow as reasons for the difference.

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Our club theme for 2024 was Branch Out, with an emphasis on getting to know different trees. October’s tree was cedar, and Heather led the group to the 20-foot edge of cedar shrubs on Mel’s property to learn how to identify and use this interesting evergreen.

There are four types of cedar species in Canada, with the white cedar being the most common in our area. Cedar is considered a sacred tree to many indigenous communities. The wood is used for furniture, fencing and roofing, while the fibrous inner bark has historically been used to make rope, clothing and even diapers! The group touched the flat green needles and observed their fan-shaped shape, and how they felt rough. Heather explained how cedar cones differ from those of other conifers because they are small and grow in clusters.

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Leader Kim asked everyone to pick a small patch of green cedar needles so she could steep a tea from them for the group to taste. Because it is high in vitamin C, cedar tea is a great natural remedy for coughs and colds.

The group was divided in two for the day’s activities. The craft group would create Christmas cards and photos using various vegetable cuttings as stamps. The cooking group was going to make fries in honor of our potato growing experiment. Everyone came in excitedly with their cedarwood pieces, which Kim put in the teapot to taste tea later.

Heather had Mel’s kitchen ready to go, with red, yellow and purple potatoes for the children to choose from, and a beautiful selection of her home-grown herbs on the counter for them to smell and identify. After dividing into small groups to cut their potatoes into equal pieces – with help from leaders and senior members – the children were allowed to choose their favorite spice combinations, grind them with a mortar and pestle, and sprinkle them over their fries before Heather popped. them in the oven. Citrus basil, garlic powder and rosemary were popular choices, with a few adventurous chefs trying mint and sage. The kitchen certainly smelled wonderful.

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Meanwhile, the craft group downstairs was busy making unique cards using potatoes from the club, as well as other vegetables, fruit and leaves. The children first created a page with test stamps to see what kind of image the different stamps would produce. Once they were happy with their trials, they moved on to making a card or two, with a variety of Halloween, Christmas and birthday cards laid out to dry.

After everyone did their part to clean up, leaders and senior members served juice, containers of crispy fries and surprise slices of pizza, generously donated to the FOY club as part of the 2023 Award of Merit from the Pine River Watershed Initiative. was definitely a joy to celebrate a successful and interesting year together.

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Our group left on a somewhat sad note. Heather announced that this would be her last year as a full-time FOY leader. After twelve years of volunteering her time and expertise and opening her home to the group, we wish Heather all the best and sincerely thank her for sharing her extensive knowledge of horticulture and for showing us what true leadership and dedication look like to see. The other leaders presented Heather with a mug and card to show their appreciation.

We are hosting the first meeting of 2025 in February to work on entries for the Ontario Horticulture Association poster competition. Thanks for reading about our FOY adventures and see you next year!

Do you enjoy working with young people? Are you a fan of plants, gardening, soil or the environment? We are looking for volunteer leaders to join our club and help make a difference in children’s lives. The time commitment is a few hours per month and we promise you a fun and rewarding experience. Contact Kimberlee Feick Lowry at [email protected] for more information.

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