MORGANTOWN — “I guess they look like tiny baby onions,” said Stacy Clovis-Woofter, an educator and Mon County Master Gardener.
A hand covered in a pink and white polka dot gardening glove dug into the soil as the Natural Wellness for Girls program planted ‘pizza gardens’ Wednesday May 23 at the West Virginia Botanical Garden (WVBG). The girls planted tomatoes, peppers, onion bulbs, and basil seeds to grow garden fresh items perfect for a pizza.
The pilot program is funded by the Women’s Giving Circle of North Central West Virginia and is offered to girls ages 9-12, at the WVBG.
The purpose of the program is to increase life skills through education and encouraging healthy development. The program also promotes positive physical wellness by hosting classes on wellness-related topics.
Seventeen girls started learning about a variety of important skills in March. Over the course of six classes, experts taught gardening, outdoor recreation, nutrition and yoga.
Clovis-Woofter said, “A lot of ladies here represent Girls Scouts in the area.”
Troop leaders were instrumental in helping to orchestrate activities with the program.
Clovis-Woofter said, “We’ve done a lot of exploring around the garden … We hope they [the girls] might learn different tools and strategies for growth and development.”
The girls kept journals over the course of their classes and used them as tools for reflection and discussion about what they learned.
Clovis-Woofter says she hopes they are able to do it again next year.
