Arts Us Summer Camp Garden Program 2025

8/11/2025

2025 was the second year of the partnership between Ramsey County Master Gardeners, the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and the Arts Us non-profit in providing gardening education to youth as part of Camp Teranga, Arts Us’ five week summer camp.  There were several significant changes made to the programming and, according to Roi Ward, the Interim Director of Arts Us, the program was even more successful than it was last year.

Two-hour education sessions were held in the garden twice each week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  There were 73 youth, grades 2-4, participating with half engaged on each of the two days.  The primary change this year was the use of the Arboretum’s Children’s Garden in Residence (CGR) as the base curriculum for both days.  To accommodate this change, the Arts Us garden space was expanded to include twelve raised beds so that each youth could have his/her own 3’ x 1’ garden plot to plant, maintain and harvest.

Tuesday sessions were led by Marlys Daugherty, Ramsey County Master Gardener and coordinator of the CGR program for the Arboretum.  Thursdays were generally led by a team of Ramsey County Master Gardeners.  Having the opportunity to see the curriculum applied on Tuesdays significantly helped the MGs prepare for Thursdays and, at times, make modifications to better fit the youth and volunteers participating.  Marlys and Arboretum staff also helped by supplying all of the materials for the outdoor snacks on Thursdays so the MGs could focus on the other parts of the curriculum. 

Finally, as was done last year, the Arboretum hosted a field trip to the Arboretum for all of the camp participants and volunteers.  This year, the trip featured a performance by the Black Storytellers Alliance of Minneapolis.

Roi Ward commented that the sessions flowed noticeably more smoothly this year since all of the youth were exposed to the same lessons.  He also commented on the synergy between RCMG and the Arboretum and on how well the volunteers interacted with the youth.  In addition, he noted the kids looked forward to the gardening sessions and some were even disappointed that there wasn’t more time spent in the garden.  Most importantly, he felt that the sessions effectively taught the youth to look at food in a different way and to better understand where it comes from.

Marlys has repeatedly said that the Arts Us CGR program is distinguished from other CGR programs by the number and involvement of volunteers.  Roughly 25 RCMG volunteers participated in the education sessions over the five week, ten session period.  In addition, another 25 participated in the significant effort to add the raised beds and maintain the garden throughout the summer. 

Some of the comments from the education volunteers tell the story best:

• “I thoroughly enjoyed this program.  I think the thing I liked best was being able to work with the kids for several weeks in a row rather than just once.  I think the guidance from the Arboretum staff was great.   They were very well organized and had great supplies and guidance for us.” – Lisa Pearson

• “The camp introduced the full cycle of how Mother Nature provides food for us from how pollinators support the ecosystem to planting.  The snacks supported eating from the garden and it was exciting to see kids eat new fruits and vegetables without added sugars and preservatives and really enjoying them!  Really impressed with how engaged they were and so curious.” – Cynthia Gustafson

• “I had such a wonderful time at the three sessions I was able to attend.  The kids showed such enthusiasm for the garden that it was fun to watch and then guide them to use their “scientist brains” to explore!” – Mary McCarron

• “The kids were enthusiastic and very engaged in the garden and garden activities and that is what made this a fun and rewarding experience.  I appreciate the opportunity to share the pleasure and contentment that I get from spending time in the garden with the Arts Us kids.  I hope that it is something that sticks with them for their lifetimes.

We were able to see their growth over the 5 weeks. They grew to be proficient at gently catching and releasing insects.  They were curious and excited about each new discovery - a grub, a straw flower under the Magiscope.  They hurried to view things with the Magisopes as the weeks went on.  By the end of the 5 weeks, I feel that they showed more respect and appreciation for the garden and all its inhabitants than they had at the beginning of our weeks together.  And of course, they loved the field trip!

I can't say enough about how great it was to have such an engaged and dedicated group of volunteers.  They were willing to fill whatever roles we needed to fill, often without the benefit of much advance information.  Having a large group of enthusiastic volunteers also helped us find our cadence and to pivot when an unexpected need arose.  I especially appreciate all the feedback we received when we met to discuss the day at the end of each session.  As a result of those discussions, as a group we settled on stations as the way all of us wanted to present the curriculum. “ – Judie Ginter

• “A five-week summer camp in the garden is a lot of work and it is a lot of fun!  Planning and preparing for the camp began months before the first day of camp.   Many groups of volunteers (from the Arboretum, Arts Us, and Master Gardeners) met multiple times to determine how camp should be structured, what plants should be planted in the garden, how camp should be organized and the role of the volunteers.  In April and May, volunteers were working hard to build raised beds for the kids, prepare the beds, weed, and plant, plant, and plant some more!  In June, despite the deluges of rain, intense winds and hot temperatures, the garden was coming together, and we were ready!

The best part about this camp was the kids!  It was so fun to see them get so excited about digging in the dirt, holding worms, catching a bee, or making their very own snack.  Some kids were new to gardening and others were already gardeners.  All the kids enjoyed the hands-on activities involving pollinators, decomposers, and anything bug related.  The kids excelled at making their own snack and sometimes trying new foods!   

The next best part about the camp was the volunteers!  Marlys from the Arboretum is beyond amazing!  Her enthusiasm for this program and how she shares it with kids and volunteers is contagious!  The Master Gardener volunteers were fantastic!  We were so fortunate to have so many outstanding volunteers each week who embraced whatever role needed!  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the volunteers.  Throughout camp, I took pictures of various activities.  It was rewarding to witness volunteers engaging with the kids in numerous ways – that is what this is all about!” – Cathy Miller