Iowa City Parks and Recreation

 

The Children’s Discovery Garden received funding from ACT and Lowe’s Home Improvement this year to install three new raised garden beds. These garden beds help create clear garden areas with greater accessibility. Additionally, they allow plants to grow abundantly due to high quality soil, excellent drainage, and the ease of weeding and planting. The raised beds are perfect height for young people to see and interact with the garden.

The garden beds are always fascinating to children who visit the garden. They are able to harvest plants such as peas and tomatoes, which are familiar to many people who visit the garden. But they are also able to harvest and try some foods that may be less familiar, such as tomatillos, okra, bok choi and cucamelons. Being able to harvest your own food holds a certain element of joy and it encourages people to try out new foods.

We are a small garden in an odd shape, but we offer a green space in an urban area that is open to the public and offers free food and activities.