As gardens go, this one is not huge at 1,800 square feet, but it’s impact certainly is.
Tucked behind the Marblemount Ranger Station is the North Cascades National Park Youth Garden. Now in its third year, this small mix of vegetables and edible flowers also is a connecting point for students, Indian tribes and local residents.
The gardeners are mostly 16- to 24-year-old participants in the Youth Conservation Corps and other youth programs. But it involved more than growing Ozette potatoes, summer squash, garlic, lettuce, tomatoes, peas and zucchini, and edible flowers such as calendula (in the daisy family) and nasturtium (a type of water cress), said Cheryl Cunningham, park gardener.
For the last two years, the students have hosted a meal prepared with foods from the garden. They worked with speakers from the Northwest Indian College to make not only the meal, but other items beyond food such as twine from nettles.
On a recent visit, Cunningham showed off the natural bug repellant, medicinal salve and hand moisturizer that the students made, given away as gifts at the meal they hosted.
“It’s just a great learning experience,” Cunningham said. “It’s kind of challenging for them at first. It’s a lot of hands-on experience with a big educational component.
“I try to do it so it’s full circle, from growing the plants to preparing the foods to learning how to use the plants for other things,” she said.
Anyone interested in participating in the garden program next season, should contact Cunningham at Cheryl_cunningham@nps.gov or 360-854-7276
JAPANESE VOLUNTEERS
For the 18th year, students from Waseda University in Tokyo have come to Mount Rainier National Park through the Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association to conduct volunteer projects.
This year, despite the major earthquake in Japan last winter, nine students have spent three weeks working on revegetation projects at Paradise and campground restoration at Ipsut Creek, said Kevin Bacher, head of the park’s volunteer program. The students also helped paint the park’s newly acquired facilities at the Thompson Ranch near the Carbon River entrance.
The students typically stay for three weeks, live with host families in the local community and do a lot of work, Bacher said.
Next year will be the program’s last year at Mount Rainier, as it expands to other national parks around the country. Since it began in 1993, the program has brought to Washington more than 320 students who have worked at Mount Rainier. Those students have contributed more than 21,000 hours of effort worth an estimated $450,000 in today’s dollars.
Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure
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