Multimedia Reporting (Utsler)

Horticulture Therapy
by Realle Roth

Libby Best, homemaker, suffers many sleepless nights. She has recently moved to Lawrence and it has taken her awhile to adjust to living in a larger town. One thing that reminds her of home is her garden.

Best has been gardening since her children were little. She has grown tomatoes, beans and cucumbers in her gardens. She has considered volunteering for a school gardening project.

“Gardening is calming for me. It’s like my therapy,” Best said.

Horticulture therapy is not a new thing it is just not well known. A few elementary schools in North Eastern Kansas will be participating in an after-school program called projectPLANTS. The goal of this is project is to promote lifelong activity and nutrition.

Right now four schools, Amanda Arnold Elementary, Frank V. Bergman Elementary, Ogden Elementary and Theodore Roosevelt, are building high-tunnel greenhouses in Ogden and Manhattan. The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. Students will begin participating in the project in September.

Dr. Richard Mattson, Kansas State University professor, said projectPLANTS hopes to emphasize nutrition, exercise and other important issues including economics. He said Riley county has often been identified as one of the poorest counties per capita in the state of Kansas.

“Growing locally produced food can be a significant supplement to limited family budgets in these hard times,” Mattson said.

Dr. Ted Carey, associate professor at KSU, is a vegetable crop specialist and has built a number of high-tunnel greenhouses. He has contributed to the Web site hightunnels.org.

According to the Web site, “Unlike commercial greenhouses that cost up to $20 per square foot to construct, high tunnels can cost as little as $0.50 per square foot.” This makes gardening accessible to people on low budgets. High tunnels are year-round sources for produce because they naturally produce a warm environment.

Patty Zehl, projectPLANTS program manager, is taking applications for volunteers to help out with the new program. The program is looking for people that enjoy kids, gardening, eating fresh fruits and vegetables and being physically active.

Some of the benefits from volunteering in projectPLANTS include having fun, reducing stress and grow lasting friendships in the garden. Training begins in August. Volunteers will be placed in positions that match their skills, interest and availability.

After learning about projectPLANTS, Best said she'd like to apply to volunteer.

"I think it'd be great help kids learn about gardening while getting therapy for myself," Best said.

To apply to help with projectPLANTS send an e-mail to: projectPLANTS@ksu.edu

For more information about high tunnels go to www.tunnelbuzz.com