Seventeen-year-old Larry spends his afternoons at Mercy Home tending to our vegetable plot. Since the beginning of the summer he’s gone from a novice to a true gardener, cultivating a deep appreciation for working the soil and bringing each vegetable from seed to table. Recently, Larry welcomed us into the garden for a special peek inside the afternoon of a teenage gardener.
Q: What experience did you have gardening before Mercy Home?
A: Before Mercy Home I didn’t really care about gardening that much, but ever since I’ve been gardening…well, it’s something that can actually go down on my résumé. It made me think more about plants and being [healthy]. Basically, if we didn’t have plants, we wouldn’t be breathing. I try to treat [the vegetable plants] like kids and stuff like that—they’re thirsty just like we are sometimes. The more we treat them better, the more they’ll grow, and the more wonderful stuff you’ll have in the garden.
Q: How did you get involved with the garden at Mercy Home?
A: Volunteering. [Staff members] were looking for some older kids to help out with the garden, so I was like ‘okay.’ I mean, it’s an experience in my life so I might as well take it. I don’t just want to doubt anything and say, ‘No, I don’t do gardening.’ It’s just a new step in my life.
Q: What do you like best about gardening?
A: Just coming out here [to the garden] and enjoying it. I’ve been out here for so long, it’s just like I love every part of it from the picking to just watching what’s going on and watering.
Q: What is your favorite vegetable to take care of in the garden?
A: The cucumbers, I like seeing them growing—and the green beans, too, because I like to eat all of them… I never really ate vegetables before. But I really care about [the vegetable plants] and I actually ate a couple of the green beans off the stem a couple of times [laughs]…I really pay attention to a healthful plate when I eat now.
Q: How are you surviving the heat in the garden?
A: I might throw a little water on my face, when I’m watering the plants… When you’re out here for so long, you just turn into a plant; you get used to the heat People will be like, ‘Oh, it’s super hot out here. I don’t really want to work out here.’ But I’ve got do what I gotta do; I don’t want [the plants] to die.
Q: Do you have any tips for beginning gardeners?
A: Don’t be shy to do it. They always say ‘gardening is for girls,*’ but don’t really listen to them. Don’t listen to what outside people say about gardening. Another tip is, just take your time in the garden. Don’t overwater; treat [plants] like they’re children, because that’s the way I treat these out here.
Ed. note: Mercy Home also created a garden on our Girls Campus. which is tended by our young women.
