City of Collegedale

Collegedale Public Library is hosting a unique garden program to give teens and “tweens,” ages 9 to 18, the opportunity to work in a garden and to learn how food is grown.  Participants will handle the tasks of planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting throughout the summer.

Teens and “tweens” ages 9 to 18 can now sign up for a weekend spot with Collegedale Public Library’s Aleks Troutt to learn how to fold plant pots out of newspaper and plant seeds. 

The first planting event will be Sunday, April 25th at 2:00 p.m.  No tools will be needed, but participants will need to bring gardening gloves if they have them, and to wear clothes they don't mind getting dirty.  After the planting event, regular Sunday events are scheduled to pull weeds, fertilize, and harvest. 

“Another goal of the Gardening Program is to get enough produce to do some fun cooking events for the teens as well,” said Natalie Wright, Director of Collegedale Public Library, “such as how to make fresh salsa with tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapenos, and pesto with basil.”

The Library would like to thank David Barto for allowing the use of space at the Collegedale Commons for the garden.  The Library also thanks Suzette Kinney of The Yard for mentoring and helping decide which plants would work best and how to lay out the space.