Grow a Pumpkin for the Fair 

Sorry grown-ups, this class is just for kids!   Children ages 6-12 years will spend (6) summer Saturday's growing and caring for their own pumpkin patch in the Arboretum's raised bed garden.  

Each 2-hour Saturday workshop features time spent tending the garden followed by plenty of arts and crafts, games and a discussion on important gardening topics such as plant lifecycles, composting, soil management, and fertilizing. 

During the workshops the children will also learn how to keep a journal of their pumpkin's progress.   Then by the end of the summer each child should have a pumpkin worthy of entering in the fair.

Due to space limitations, class size is limited to just 14 children.  

Workshop Dates & Topics

4/18 - Prepare the Garden Area & Plant Seeds

5/16 - Compost and Plant Nutrition

6/20 - Water Cycle, Plant Cycle & Photosynthesis

7/25 - Flowers, Pollination & Weeds

8/15 - Insects "The Good, the bad, and the Ugly"

9/19 - Harvest Time!!  Complete Journal, Fair Entry, Pumpkin Bread, Yum!

About the Instructor:

Doris Sonstelie is a retired educator who spent twenty years as an elementary teacher in Utah, California and Montana.  She also owned and managed two successful technology and machine service businesses and continues with technology development today.  Since retiring she has been active with the Yakima Valley Iris Society, spent nine years as a Master Gardener where she helped develop and refine the Yakima County Youth Programs with creative learning through structured, hands-on immersion in children’s gardening and environmental science experiences, and six years as an approved elementary school volunteer throughout the Yakima School District.  No surprise that she received the WSU Community Volunteer of the Year award in 2013.  Doris is also a longtime member of the Yakima Area Arboretum.