By Betsy Finklea
A group of young people from Vision Education Center are learning skills that will last them a lifetime at the community garden located behind the City of Dillon Wellness Center.
Grady Sampson, Clemson Extension Agent, is teaching the students about gardening, but DHEC Health Educator Nina Bradley who is working with the group said the students are gaining much more.
In addition to learning about how to grow and maintain a garden, Bradley and Vision Education Center’s Azalee McCormick, hope the students will also learn and will start consuming the fresh fruits and vegetables and that the physical activity required will get the children moving. While there on Tuesday, the students watered plants, weeded beds, planted plants and more.
The students were surprised to learn from Sampson that when they go to the grocery store that fruits and vegetables not labeled as South Carolina grown make an average of a 2,500 mile trip to the grocery store.
The community garden was spearheaded by the Clemson Extension Master Gardeners group and was made possible due to the generous contributions of various local sponsors. The vegetables they grow there go to the Helping Hands Food Bank.