Off the Map: Garden pulls in Vinton youth

Editor's note: Each week we target a town on a map of Eastern Iowa and go there in search of a story. We hope to discover and share stories of people and places we might not ordinarily take note of, but who make our communities special.

VINTON - Mother Nature has not been kind to this town in the last few years. Flooding in 2008 and a massive 2011 wind storm left a lot of damage.

But those disasters did lead to a bright spot: the Community Youth Garden in the 300 block of Second Street.

'(Kids) are involved in every step of the process,” said volunteer Martha Neuzil. 'They are digging, planting seeds and plants, composting, picking, cleaning up the beds.”

Neuzil got involved with the project - which is sponsored by the Benton County Iowa State University Extension Office and the Vinton Parks and Recreation Department - because it combined two of her passions.

'I love kids and I love to garden,” she said. 'I love to watch the kids garden. It's really a lot of fun.”

The garden was first planted in 2010. Since then, some 50 children have connected with the educational program, including 20 this past summer.

Neuzil said people often are surprised to find out that the program is run year-round. 'Right now we are getting the beds cleaned up for fall,” she said. In the winter months volunteers cover topics such as nutrition and they host a February popcorn party where kids are able to eat the fruit of their summer labor.

'We do our best to make it enjoyable for the kids,” she said. 'And we try to experiment with something different every year.”

They grow a wide variety of vegetables, but they also have a great supply of fruit including four apple trees, two pear trees, blueberry and raspberry bushes, rhubarb plants, and a strawberry patch.

Plus there's a cut flower garden. 'The kids love that,” Neuzil said. 'The smiles on the kids' faces when they are holding their flowers or a big head of cabbage they picked are my favorite part of being involved with this.”

Neuzil also recently added a Little Free Library to the garden, a place for people to take a book or leave a book for someone else to discover.

During March, April and May, kids come to the community garden programs - which meet for one hour - on Mondays after school.

When summer rolls around, the program meets twice per week. 'The kids really have a good time,” Neuzil said. 'And the parents think this program is great. One mom said its heck of a lot better than having her kids sitting at home and playing video games.”

Neuzil even noted that some families have opted to no longer participate in the program after a year and instead create a garden in their own backyard. 'That is exactly what we are trying to do,” she said.

'I asked the kids what they like best and they all say that they like to pick what they have grown and they like to eat what they pick,” she added.