New SEED Garden adds hands-on gardening classes at Texas A&M's Leach Teaching Gardens

Texas A&M University's public garden on the College Station campus has added a dedicated space for hands-on gardening lessons aimed at students and residents alike.

The Sarah A. '84 and Mark A. Philpy '77 SEED Garden sits inside the Leach Teaching Gardens, part of The Gardens at Texas A&M University. It was dedicated Oct. 2, Texas A&M AgriLife said in an announcement. SEED is short for "supporting experiential education and demonstrations."

What is there

The quarter-acre plot has 16 garden beds plus beds around its edge used for demonstration plantings, according to AgriLife. Before it was built, The Gardens had a single bed set aside for teaching, which capped how many lessons staff could run. The Philpys, both former students, pledged the money for the project, and AgriLife's facilities and construction staff helped design it.

Michael Arnold, who leads the garden and teaches horticultural sciences, said the addition expands the program's capacity for interactive teaching, and that results from trying new techniques and materials there will be shared with campus and the surrounding community.

Who can use it

AgriLife listed several programs tied to the new space:

• Little Sprouts, a five-week program for ages 3 to 5, will now run multiple sessions.
• Garden Club, an eight-week series for ages 6 to 9, is the first pilot program in the new garden.
• Vegging Out, aimed at adults and college students, covers gardening in small spaces.
• Junior Master Gardener activities with AgriLife Extension, such as Garden Exploration Days over Bryan ISD's fall break, plus summer camps.

The annual Texas 4-H Landscape Challenge, which already takes place on these grounds, will use the uniform beds instead of teams hauling in their own wooden boxes. Classes and Extension programs may book beds as well; AgriLife said its HOPS program, which trains people with disabilities for horticulture jobs, has already booked space this fall.

Kathryn Grier, the garden's education and outreach coordinator, credited the donors with letting more people "get their hands in the soil." The announcement did not list program dates, fees or registration details.

Sources

agrilifetoday.tamu.edu

morningagclips.com