Digging in the dirt is all part of the fun of participating in Let’s Grow Akron’s Kids in the Garden program. From turning over soil to planting produce and herbs in community garden beds at Summit Lake Nature Center, kids roll up their sleeves to delve into all parts of the growing cycle.
“A lot of kids that are hesitant about getting their hands dirty will — after a few minutes of playing in the soil — be up to their elbows,” says Lisa Nunn, executive director of Let’s Grow Akron, a nonprofit that helps locals grow and consume healthy produce.
While participants range from 1-year-olds to grandparents accompanying their grandkids, most attendees are school-age children.
“It really warms my heart to see those connections happen when they’re given the space to explore more freely in the garden, try new things,” adds Kyotē Youst, Let’s Grow Akron’s youth program coordinator.
Weekly on Thursdays from March to October, Let’s Grow Akron and Summit Metro Parks staffers guide kids through plant-themed activity stations that range from crafts — like drawing imaginary gardens on paper — to gardening tasks such as watering. Together, they engage in the entire seed-to-plate process, eventually filling six raised community garden beds with herbs, fruits and vegetables they can later eat — as well as flowers.
“I really see this program as a versatile opportunity to connect the kids in our community back to some of the most important parts of life — growing food, being connected to our land, being connected to each other and working together over time to see something come into existence and fruition,” Youst says.
The program begins with kids starting seeds inside the nature center until temperatures are right to transplant them outside, nurturing their growth over time.
“We’re transplanting plants into beds and learning how much space they need and room they need to grow and where the roots grow,” Nunn says, “then proper watering techniques and proper pruning techniques and weeding and how to identify the difference between a weed and a plant that we want to keep and, of course, harvesting.”
When it comes to harvesting, kids learn phrases, like the redder the better for strawberries, to help them pick crops at the optimal time.
“Some of the things I’m seeing them develop a lot is patience and slowing down, paying close attention to something and cooperating with one another,” says Youst.
Everyone gets a snack each week and, when in season, it’s often produce straight from the garden. Participants grow lettuce, radishes, green onions and more. There is an outdoor garden sink — sometimes, kids pluck carrots or beets from the garden, wash them and eat them right out of the ground. Nunn eats cucamelons off the vine and encourages kids to try the fruit, which tastes like a Sour Patch Kid.
“If their hands were involved in starting it, especially starting from a seed and watching it grow, they tend to be more willing to try it,” she says. “They’re surprised that they found a new food.”
In addition to healthy eating, participants learn fresh cooking by chopping veggies for salsa or turning herbs into pesto. They also make cucumbers into pickles and serve up specialties like three-bean salad, made from purple, yellow and green beans that they harvest.
It’s rewarding for staffers to see kids venture outside of their comfort zones. Youst recalls one boy who found a bug in the soil and wanted to get rid of it. They swooped in and reminded him that bugs work in the garden like people do. Just a few minutes later, his fear dissipated.
“He had them crawling on his hands and was having a conversation and playing with them with this big smile,” Youst says. “When they are willing to try something and have an open mind, I have been able to see ways their perspectives have changed.”
The youth gardening program started as the Harvest of Hope Children’s Community Garden program, which transformed an illegal dump site into a 19,000-square-foot green space. Located off the Summit Lake Loop Trail by Let’s Grow Akron’s headquarters, the spot is now the Elaine Evans’ Memorial Garden, a public park-like setting with picnic tables, native plants, a walking bridge and a 50-foot replica canal boat. Let’s Grow Akron also hosts other youth programs, like the Urban Ag Futures Program. A partnership with Ohio State University Extension and Abundant Life Farm, Urban Ag teaches 13- to 18-year-olds about urban agriculture.
The Summit Lake Nature Center garden, where Kids in the Garden is held, is one of about 25 community gardens and green spaces — managed by Let’s Grow Akron — where community members grow their own food. Plus, the nonprofit has a community farm, delivers produce, and vends at Summit Lake Farmers Market and its own year-round Let’s Grow Akron Community Farm Market & Kitchen. Using its platforms and programs, Let’s Grow Akron distributed over 13,000 pounds of produce last year.
Through all of its offerings — especially Kids in the Garden — Let’s Grow Akron helps people appreciate fresh food at its source.
“Everyone should learn to grow their own or at least understand how it works, where it comes from, so they can develop a deeper respect for those who do grow food,” Nunn says.
330-745-9700, letsgrowakron.org
Nature for Tykes
Kinderealm
April 2 and 9
It’s rainy season, so kiddos ages 3 to 6 and their adults can learn about the ways people, plants and animals need water during these naturalist-led, April Showers-themed programs. At both the April 2 session at the Summit Lake Nature Center and the April 9 session at the F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm, kids might craft coffee filter art with water and markers, use their voices to create a rain cheer thunderstorm and enjoy a story and rhyme celebrating spring rain. Get ready to explore the outdoors too — search for signs of water and learn about the way rain impacts our springtime ecosystem.
Lil' Sprouts
April 10 and 24
It’s never too early to learn about nature. Little ones, from infancy up to 6 years old — and their adults — can develop green thumbs by tending to a garden at Summit Lake Nature Center. On both dates, start seeds — which may include kale, spinach, lettuce, carrots or beets — indoors or outdoors. On April 10, explore spring ephemerals along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, enjoy a reading of “Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt,” craft spring flowers and munch on artichoke dip and chips. On April 24, observe water samples, take in a reading of “One Well: The Story of Water on Earth,” construct Earth by using a paper plate and hand cutouts and nosh on a spinach salad with strawberries.
Updated 4/2/25
Lisa Nunn
Lisa Nunn
Lisa Nunn
Lisa Nunn
Katelyn Freil
R. Whinnery
