The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Community Garden is a space for all

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The UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension recently hosted a six-week ‘Gardening with Autism’ program, geared toward children ages 8 to 13, on the autism spectrum. The program, at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., featured numerous fun and educational, hands-on sensory activities that allowed children to learn about basic gardening. Participants also learned the importance of pollinators, and even got to construct their own birdbath.

The community garden, which had its grand opening on Feb. 15, offers a free space (plots are first come, first-served) for citizens to grow flowers and crops. In the future, the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension will be offering classes on subjects such as how to compost, grow and can vegetables.

Eight-year-old Lucas Yingling, of Hudson, cleans off his cement birdbath that he made during the Gardening with Autism program on Jan. 25, revealing the elephant ear leaf impression. The six-week, hands-on program was hosted by the UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension, and held at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park. Assisting him was his father, Randy, left, and mom Patty. (Christine Holtzman)
Brooke Whitehead, of Weeki Wachee, center, pretends to be a pollinator during an activity with University of Florida student Katie Yanuzzell, of Brandon, left, and UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension master gardener and east side community gardens program assistant Chris Carreiro. The group was using Cheetos dust on their fingers to simulate how pollen would stick to the legs of bees, as they pollinate flowers.
The community garden area at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park offers a free space (plots are first- come, first-served) for citizens to grow flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables. The garden also was the site of the six-week program, Gardening with Autism. This area also is the home of the ‘Food For All’ mural, which was a cooperative project presented by the Autism Society of Florida, Pasco County Planning and Development, UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension, and Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources.

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