I have been working with Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) this summer. I have been able to grow my knowledge about gardening and then share that information with the youth in the community!

I have been helping run camps with campers ages 3-14. Our culinary camp includes campers ages 9-14. These campers take foods grown at BUGS and turn them into meals for themselves and the gardening camp. Gardening camps are either ages 3-4 or 5-8. These campers get to learn all about the garden at BUGS and learn gardening techniques, such as planting, harvesting, cover crops, and composting. I have been able to help build lessons and activities for the camps, including finding recipes, coming up with garden-inspired games, and creating activities that connect the campers to the world around them.

I also had the chance to run an all day camp, our Jr. Naturalist Camp during July 5-7. During this camp, we explored Kathryn Albertson Park, created our own nature journals, toured Global Gardens, did some projects at Warm Springs park, and also had a chance to explore the Foothills Learning Center. This was a joy to get to learn about new programs in the Boise community and help our campers become naturalists along the way. The attached image is of me, helping collect goat heads (Tribulus terrestris) at Warm Springs park. This was one of the projects we did at the Jr. Naturalist Camp to help out the Boise community.

I am excited to be able to take these experiences back to my classroom. I now have more knowledge on sustainable agriculture and examples of where to find it in the Treasure Valley. BUGS is also accepts volunteers, which is something I will be able to offer to my high school students, too, so they can experience this first-hand as well.