Welcome!

Our goal at the McFaddin-Ward House is to teach how easy gardening can be. We hope to inspire others to start their own gardens, and to instill a love of nature and conservation in the hearts of the children that participate in the program. We adopted a "lasagna" gardening method and maintain the project free of pesticides and chemicals.

The 4-bed Victory Garden, which is part of its education program, is supervised by staffer, Carol Cuccio. She has gardened her whole life has a real passion for teaching others to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs.

To learn more, or to get involved with this fulfilling project, contact us at (409) 832-1906 or email ccuccio@mcfaddin-ward.org.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Green Thumbs Sprinkler Day


The June 3, and final Green Thumbs event for this year, was another success.  To keep with our tradition, the third program included a fun sprinkler day, where the kids got the chance to cool off by running through the sprinklers.  It was a great time and we all had a blast! 

 The theme for this year's Green Thumbs was color in the garden.  The program started with Prissy Rouse, McFaddin-Ward House docent, reading, "The Indian Paintbrush."  Then the children were divided into two groups.  One group went to a station where they were to paint with watercolors made from natural dyes, made from food items like berries, beets, and coffee.  At the other station, the Green Thumbs got a lesson on nutrition, the importance of eating colorful foods, and were able to make their own appetizer from hummus, herbs, and cucumbers.  

Children that attended all three programs were given a special prize and were encouraged to bring their bean seedlings, planted at the first Green Thumbs program on April 8 to show off their progress.  At the end of the program, we turned on the sprinklers and museum curator, Allen Lea made giant bubbles for the kids.  It was a great day and we will be looking forward to next year's Green Thumbs events!  Follow us on Facebook for the latest details on all our events.