Description
The Children's Garden is the corner of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in Crown Heights next to Prospect Park, where children do the gardening themselves. Started in 1914, it is the oldest children's garden in the United States and one of the oldest in the world.
The young gardeners, aged 2 to 17, plant their own crops, mostly vegetables rather than flowers, and harvest them with the help of the garden's instructors. Along the way they learn about growing food, sustainable practices and the environment.
The idea came from Ellen Eddy Shaw, an educator at the botanic garden. A century later, in 2014, the garden received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, and by then it welcomed about a thousand children a year.
The young gardeners, aged 2 to 17, plant their own crops, mostly vegetables rather than flowers, and harvest them with the help of the garden's instructors. Along the way they learn about growing food, sustainable practices and the environment.
The idea came from Ellen Eddy Shaw, an educator at the botanic garden. A century later, in 2014, the garden received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, and by then it welcomed about a thousand children a year.