Growing a love of nature

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Children from Sacred Heart School in Rockport recently visited the Children’s Discovery Garden. Katy Wendell, a fifth-grader at the school, has visited the garden four times. ‘It’s like my own imaginary place,’ she says.

As a child, Diane Hanson spent many afternoons in her grandfather's asparagus garden daydreaming and playing hide-and-seek. While the garden sanctuary served as a perfect playground, it also nurtured her appreciation for Mother Nature.
  "Thinking about my grandfather's garden brings back such warm memories," said Hanson, today a volunteer master gardener with the Green Acres Demonstration Garden in Rockport. "And that's what I would love to have available for kids in the Coastal Bend, a place where they can create those memories."
  At Green Acres, children will have the opportunity to create even more with the expansion of the Children's Discovery Garden, one of eight theme gardens located at Green Acres. The Children's Discovery Garden, slated to expand from 1,500 square feet to 8,000 square feet, will incorporate ideas staffers receive from children.

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Gina Picarazzi (left), 11, and Katy Wendell, 11, from Sacred Heart School study flowers at the Children’s Discovery Garden, one of eight theme gardens at Green Acres in Rockport. The children’s garden is slated to expand from 1,500 to 8,000 square feet.

  On Saturday, children will get the first chance to give design ideas during Kids Garden Fest from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Little Bay Elementary, 2000 Highway 35 North in Rockport.
  This first-ever event, designed for children ages 4 to 10, features 14 make-and-take activity booths where participants will learn everything from worm composting to insect anatomy. The event, sponsored by the Aransas/San Patricio County Master Gardeners and the Aransas County 4-H Club, will help raise funds for the garden expansion.
  Katy Wendell, a fifth-grader at Rockport's Sacred Heart School who on Monday took a class field trip to the soon-to-be expanded garden, said Green Acres' new garden should include benches for children to sit on and outdoor lights to illuminate more of the greenery at night.
  "I'm very fond of flowers," said Katy, who has been to the Children's Discovery Garden four times. "I love to go to the garden because it helps me relax and feel free about my decisions. It's like my own imaginary place."
  Katy's classmate, Myranda Ramirez, had no difficulty in singling out the Indian blanket as her favorite flower at Green Acres. The new garden, she said, should have picnic tables so visitors could lunch while sitting in the garden.
  "Seeing all those beautiful flowers made me feel like I could plant my own flowers at home," Myranda said. "But I think I'd want to just spend the whole day there and never go inside."
  Although it was Joseph Lee's first visit to Green Acres, Myranda's classmate said he was astounded by the array of blooms and vegetation.

Kids Garden Fest What: For children ages 4 to 10, features 14 activity stations and Texas State Aquarium’s Oceans in Motion mobile exhibit When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Where: Little Bay Elementary, 2000 Highway 35 North in Rockport Cost: $3 per child; lunch included. Parents admitted free. Information: (361) 790-0103.

  "I would definitely put a water fountain in the new garden and vending machines for kids when they got really hungry or thirsty," Joseph said. "If I had a lot of money, like a million dollars, I'd build a garden as big as my school with sidewalks all around it, sort of like a maze. That way kids could ride their bikes or Rollerblade through the maze. And I'd have information booths so that kids who get lost can find their way out.
  "But I wouldn't go too far and turn it into a playground. I would make it a place where people could come and have fun and enjoy the garden."