The American Horticultural Society comes to town this week to promote the importance of teaching kids about gardening.
The National Children & Youth Garden Symposium will be July 12-15 at the UT Institute of Agriculture and UT Gardens. It brings educators in from around the country to learn how to inspire kids to become tomorrow’s gardeners.
Gardening experts from around the country — including several of our local ones — will lend their knowhow to the program. Chris Battle of BattleField Farms & Gardens will open the symposium with a talk about cultivating community through gardening. A former paster at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, Battle established a community garden in East Knoxville and acquired a van to deliver fresh produce to the community, battling food inequity and addressing social justice.
Kelly Sauskojus with Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Maryl Burke, Sarah Heizenroth and Amber Ford with CAC Beardsley Community Farm will head up educational sessions.
While they’re in town, symposium participants will have a chance to visit the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum, CAC Beardsley Community Farm, the gardens at the Episcopal School of Knoxville and Hardin Valley Academy, Ijams Nature Center, Lakeshore Park and BattleField Farm.