Eight scouts from Troop 182 visited a secret garden of sorts on Thursday evening, July 10, when they worked on their Gardening Merit Badge at Green Thumb Nursery in Russellville.
The scouts were engaged and learned from the owner, Tammy Janssen, many valuable lessons on gardening. She spoke on how to prevent gardening injuries, the different kinds of pollinators and pests, how to control diseases and how to propagate plants from clippings. Janssen also provided scouts small clippings and seed packets to begin propagating and growing their own plants.
Scout Trystan Blair enjoyed the new experience and said, “I will work on some plants to grow indoors and possibly wait till fall to start my garden.”
While all the scouts started their Gardening Merit Badge on Thursday, they will have multiple steps to complete until it is finished. According to one scout leader, Craig Wilson, the scouts who attended will have to plant six vegetables and six flowers and observe their growth, plant 100 seeds and determine the percentage of how many germinate and start a garden or compost pile and make observations once a week, for 90 days, to complete the merit badge.
Scout Gabe Faulkner enjoyed the gardening session enough that he is considering applying to work at the nursery next year.
To learn more about Green Thumb Nursery visit their website at www.thegreenthubnursery.com. The nursery is located at 4001 West Main Street in Russellville. To learn more about Scouting America visit www.beascout.scouting.org, or Troop 182B, visit their website at www.russellville182.org.