Welcome to the Garden!
The William “Bill” Whitfield Smith Community Garden at the Wayne County Public Library is a joyful, peaceful place for children (and adults!) to learn about our environment and how they can impact it.
Home to a variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, our garden can be enjoyed in multiple ways. We invite all children and their families to check it out!
During the fourth week, Jo Daniels, from Beekeepers of the Neuse, visited our Good Chives Summer Learning Garden Program. With her, she brought a beekeeper outfit, dried honeycombs, and awesome tools they use while collecting honey from hives. During this program our young gardeners learned how bees are essential pollinators that transport pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing various plants and trees. At least one-third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination, and bees do most of it! After the lesson, the children pretended they were bees and realized how easily pollination happens. Through the use of Cheetos, the children were able to eat a yummy snack, and once finished they would dab their fingers on a paper flower. By using Cheetos the children were able to see how easily pollen can transfer from flower to flower. To finish the program we then went out to our garden and harvested fruits and vegetables that were ready to eat!
What’s Growing in the Garden?
Click on each image to find recipes using these fruits, vegetables and herbs.
New this year – our sensory garden! With plants like eucalyptus, lavender, and lamb’s ear, children are encouraged to touch, smell, and connect with nature. From the people at KidsGardening.org, an activity kit on sensory gardening with kids is available for downloading. Also for all involved, check out the mental health benefits of spending time in nature.
We’ve devoted a section of our garden to help out our local pollinators. Several types of plants are growing: zinnias, salvia, cornflower, and more. Check out NC State Extension’s tips on how to create your own and why it’s beneficial to do so.
For those of you who haven’t heard of it, ecoEXPLORE (Experiences Promoting Learning Outdoors for Research and Education) is an incentive-based citizen science program for children in grades K-8.
Developed by The North Carolina Arboretum, this innovative program combines science exploration with kid-friendly technology to foster a fun learning environment for children while encouraging them to explore the outdoors and participate in citizen science.
Ecoexplorers can earn extra points for photographing organisms at the Wayne County Public Library’s garden or area (or by visiting any of the hotspots or loanspots on this map, ) Point can be used to purchase items such as binoculars, bee houses, and even an iPod Touch!
How to Explore?
See it!
After signing up online, participants go outside in their own backyard or at designated ecoEXPLORE HotSpots to find wildlife species, including plants, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds.
Snap it!
Participants can use their own device – or check out an iPod Touch at a participating LoanSpot location – and photograph their wildlife observation, noting the data, location, time, size and species observed.
Share it!
Participants then log into their ecoEXPLORE profile online and submit their “share” or observation. Arboretum staff will then review the data and submit all approved submissions to the iNaturalist Network, which is used by real scientists!