GILLETTE, Wyo. — A lot of family ties have grown in little 4-by-4 square foot boxes of dirt this summer at Meadowlark Elementary School.

The nine small square garden plots are bursting with corn, tomatoes, peppers, radishes and squash, but it is not the produce that makes the whole project special to Aunamae Brinkerhoff.

The sixth-grader has had more reasons than just healthy, fresh food to get excited about visiting the B&B Go Green gardening club every other Wednesday. It is time that she can spend with her mom, Justina.

"It's just really nice to hang out with your family," she said. "It was fun to just hang out and plant the garden together."

At least 10 children like Brinkerhoff have spent the summer learning about gardening and at the same time growing closer to their families.

"Look at our little pepper plant," Brinkerhoff said to Chloe and Rylie Rankin as the trio sat at the edge of one of the school's garden plots. She clapped and gently poked the tiny green pepper.

The trio pushed their gloved fingers into the black dirt at the edge of the plot, preparing the jet-black soil to plant some cantaloupe plants. Their moms stood nearby, watching their girls as they spread mulch and planted vegetables.

"They check on them every day, a couple of times a day to see if they've grown," Justina Brinkerhoff said. "Kids love it when things grow."

Brinkerhoff has had a garden at home before, but has had little success in growing anything more than strawberries and onions. The gardening club has helped her family branch out and begin to grow other things in their garden, like radishes, corn and tomatoes.

Brinkerhoff has never seen her daughter really excited about growing produce until this summer.

"She always liked flowers, but they made the whole process more interesting for her," she said. "She can't wait to go out in the garden and pick stuff. I'm just holding her off."

That excitement made Brinkerhoff grin while she watched Aunamae pull weeds and work the soil at the club's communal garden on Wednesday afternoon.

While the girls worked, Sandra Hunter, a physical education teacher who retired in June, walked through the garden helping the girls. She peppered the work with small lessons that she hopes will help the girls and their families grow successful home gardens.

"I'm a teacher, it's a habit," she said with a smile. "Why does mulching help the garden?" she asked the girls.

"It keeps weeds from growing and helps the soil," Brinkerhoff responded.

She circled the gaggle of gardeners around one of the plots to explain how to tell the difference between grass and sprouting corn. The avid gardener explained that the grass will be a darker green and have a more slender leaf.

"This is grass in our garden," she said pointing to some lawn that was invading one of the rows. "We want to get it out because it's pretty invasive."

Hunter has watched many of the young gardeners develop from being apprehensive about getting into the dirt to being excited to dig for worms in the garden.

"Last summer, I had a young girl check out my weed book," Hunter said. "That's when you know you've made it, when they go beyond what I teach them and learn on their own."

The Meadowlark gardening club has been in existence in some form or another for about 10 years. But it wasn't until this year that parents were asked to get involved with their children.

"We wrote the grant for 10 community members to get the 4-by-4-square-foot gardens," said Katie Brunson, co-director of the group. "This year we brought in families. They are at home gardening, and that is what we want them to get excited about."

Each family was given a garden frame, seeds, plants, books and recipes at the beginning of summer break. They are asked to maintain a garden at home as well as attend the bi-weekly club meetings where they get lessons in proper cultivation techniques.

"We can direct them or we can help them with their home gardens," Brunson said. "And we want them to know what they can do with their produce."

The teachers help the families conduct experiments, including dissections to learn the parts of the plants.

They even use the communal garden at the school to help the club members understand and solve problems that they are having at home with their plots.

"I've lived in the country and everything we planted died," said Amanda Larson, while she watched her daughter, Taylor, plant tomato plants. "We now live in a trailer court and can't have a garden, so the 4-by-4 gardens work for us. She checks on them every day, a couple of times a day, to see if the plants have grown."

Larson said that the radishes they planted at home are growing really well, but she doesn't know what the family will do with them because they don't really eat radishes.

That doesn't really matter, though, because Taylor is excited that something is growing anyway.

"Kids love it when things grow," she said.

The program is possible because of a recreation mill grant for $9,000 that Brunson applied for. Although all 10 slots for families are filled, anyone who wants to learn about gardening is welcome to attend the Wednesday afternoon sessions.

"It is open to all the families and any kids that want to attend," she said. "It is a family-oriented kind of garden club."

After digging a few holes and rooting a few plants, Brinkerhoff sat at the edge of one of the small plots staring at that single pepper for a moment.

The inch-long green fruit is the first sign of production in the plots, a milestone for the girl who had not grown anything on her own before.

"I feel like I've accomplished something when they come up," she said, poking the tiny banana-shaped fruit.

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It is that accomplishment that the teachers who oversee the group thrive on.

"Understanding that a seed is alive, to have them plant that and have them grow and see the different parts of the plant and see it produce fruit," Brunson said. "It's great."

It is enough to remind Brunson that she is helping grow a greener generation.

Information from: The Gillette News Record - Gillette, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com

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