WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:01.979 --> 00:00:11.360 AG: Before the children's garden, I never knew where vegetables came from. 2 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:14.829 I just thought veggies came from the store. 3 00:00:14.829 --> 00:00:20.070 My name is Ashley Gagnay I'm currently an instructor at the Children's Garden. 4 00:00:20.070 --> 00:00:24.609 SM: Brooklyn Botanic Garden is home to the oldest children garden in a botanic garden 5 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:25.929 in the world. 6 00:00:25.929 --> 00:00:29.410 I'm Scot Medbury, President of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 7 00:00:29.410 --> 00:00:33.910 The children's garden is sort of an urban farm for kids where children learn to grow 8 00:00:33.910 --> 00:00:34.910 vegetables. 9 00:00:34.910 --> 00:00:38.440 SB: Our kids in the children's garden really get to do the work. 10 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:44.920 They are actually the ones who till the soil, mulch, plant the seeds. 11 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:50.100 My name is Sonal Bhatt and I'm the VP of Education and Interpretation here at Brooklyn Botanic 12 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:51.129 Garden. 13 00:00:51.129 --> 00:00:57.140 The Children's Garden was one of a kind when it was made 100 years ago and today it still 14 00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:02.129 remains a model around the world for how children's programming in gardens should be done. 15 00:01:02.129 --> 00:01:08.010 SM: The Children's Garden is a beautiful introduction to a wealth of environmental issues and concerns 16 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:14.580 and we're partly raising environmentally literate citizens through this program. 17 00:01:14.580 --> 00:01:18.110 Children who've had the experience of working in the Children's Garden learn the value of 18 00:01:18.110 --> 00:01:19.890 clean air, of clean water. 19 00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:26.110 AG: When the children walk into The Children's Garden it's amazing to see them experience 20 00:01:26.110 --> 00:01:28.540 it just like I did a few years ago. 21 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:34.190 Making a whole in the ground, putting the seeds in, watering it and seeing it grow. 22 00:01:34.190 --> 00:01:38.400 CD: I was 11 years old when I started at The Children's Garden. 23 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.950 Having my own plot in the garden was a new experience for me because I've never had anything 24 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:46.950 to care for, ya know, anything to take responsibility in. 25 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:48.460 My name is Chidi Duke. 26 00:01:48.460 --> 00:01:53.340 AG: Having a children's garden that's open to kids coming in, it's like their own little 27 00:01:53.340 --> 00:02:00.840 piece of land and they're able to feel responsible and take care of it with the tools that are 28 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:07.750 given to them, like watering cans and rakes and trowels, so it just gives them a different 29 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:09.679 experience than being in school. 30 00:02:09.679 --> 00:02:14.970 SM: One of the joys of The Children's Garden is seeing, sort of, cross-aged tutoring where 31 00:02:14.970 --> 00:02:18.680 older youth, or teenagers, mentor younger children. 32 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:20.560 CD: Pull it out, that's ready to go. 33 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.109 [conversation in background] SB: Each year our children's gardeners harvest 34 00:02:24.109 --> 00:02:26.370 4,300 pounds of produce. 35 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:28.260 That's a lot. 36 00:02:28.260 --> 00:02:30.150 Carrots, radishes, tomatoes. 37 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:36.780 CD: I'd bring home fruits and vegetables and I would tell them "oh I grew this today" and 38 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:37.910 my mom would be so happy. 39 00:02:37.910 --> 00:02:42.719 SB: The founders of this garden really felt like it was important for kids to get to know 40 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:47.769 where their food was coming from and to really engage in learning by doing. 41 00:02:47.769 --> 00:02:53.030 For a lot of the kids who come to our children's garden this is one of their first true contacts 42 00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:54.230 with nature. 43 00:02:54.230 --> 00:03:00.480 It's their first chance to really dig in the dirt, so when they encounter things like insects 44 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:05.920 they are sometimes grossed out or shocked and you'll be surprised at how much they grow 45 00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:07.370 over their time with us. 46 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:13.689 They become adopters of good food habits and they really learn nature isn't yucky or scary. 47 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:16.590 AG: The children get very excited. 48 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:19.819 SB: It's about wonder and discovery. 49 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:21.689 It's just a place of pure joy. 50 00:03:21.689 --> 00:03:26.480 SM: And perhaps the most remarkable thing is that a mission that was created over a 51 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:32.069 century ago is just as relevant in today's modern society as it was 100 years ago. 52 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:37.260 SB: I know from talking to the people who have been through this program that it changes 53 00:03:37.260 --> 00:03:39.200 lives. 54 00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:40.849 That's not a small thing. 55 00:03:40.849 --> 00:03:43.790 It makes me feel so proud. 56 00:03:43.790 --> 00:03:48.409 Kids really are important in the children's garden and the work they do is important and 57 00:03:48.409 --> 00:03:52.230 treating kids with respect like that, that's pretty special.