Humboldt County 4-H Manilla Garden Project: 4-H Members Learn New Life Skills in a Community Garden.

The Issue
All California 4-H Youth Development Program activities emphasize youth developing citizenship, leadership, and life skills. The life skills related to managing people and projects include: goal setting, problem solving, decision-making, written communication, and public speaking. All of these skills prepare youth for future roles in community and leadership positions. By learning the value of being strong participants in their community at a young age, youth are more likely to retain these values through their adulthood. Furthermore, youth involved in service learning and community service develop new confidence in themselves by becoming active, responsible members of their community.

What has 4-H Done?
The members of the Manila 4-H after school recreation club are involved participants in their community. Each of their community projects, from peninsula clean-ups to multicultural festivals, benefits their community enormously. Their latest project is a Needs-Based Garden. 4-H Club members spoke with the community council about their plans, and after drafting a needs-based garden plan with the help of a landscape architect, the Manila Community Services District Board of Directors approved their project.

The garden is designed to have nutrition-based planting beds, including a teepee bean and pea garden, a Vitamin A & C garden, a kitchen herb garden, and many more. The garden also contains a garden gathering area, which provides resources for different cooking techniques. The participants restored and revegetated the native plants in the area. With this new needs-based garden, 4-H Club members plan to teach community members about composting and other garden principles.

The Payoff
The Manila 4-H Club members learned valuable life skills by actively participating in community affairs. First, they learned how to plan and sponsor their garden project by working with local governing bodies. The leadership and citizenship skills they attained from this aspect of the project will be beneficial by boosting their confidence and giving them experience to use in the future. Secondly, by provided access to vegetable produce at the community center through a mini Farmers Market, members helped increase the availability of nutritional food to the community. Lastly, the Manila 4-H community projects increased public awareness by getting the community involved in beautifying the community center. The project provided a garden gathering area for residents to learn about outdoor cooking, gardening and nutrition, and costal sand dune habitats. All participants in the Manila 4-H Needs-Based Garden Project have become dynamic, dependable members of their community, a feat everyone can benefit from.

Author: Claire Connolly
Posted February 2008
For more information, contact the Humboldt 4-H Office at 707-445-7351 or sksathrum@ucdavis.edu.

To submit a 4-H Delivers story, please contact the State 4-H Office at 530-754-8518 or fourhstateofc@ucdavis.edu.