WINNEMUCCA - The Winnemucca Community Garden held its first farmers market for the season July 21. A second farmers market is planned for Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon, organizer and AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer Ronny Forney said.
The Children's Garden table was the hit of the day. Local youths Becca Kuskie, Taylor Ricci and Jovi Kuskie were at the market exhibiting and selling produce grown in their Children's Garden plot along with some donations from other growers in the WCG.
The Nevada Outdoor School sponsored the Children's Garden to teach local youth the benefits and fun of gardening, Forney said.
"It's a lot of fun," Becca Kuskie said, when asked what she thought about the farmers market.
"There was a good turnout and Ronny and Nikki did a great job of organizing it," she added.
Nikki Stuff is the Nevada Outdoor School representative who worked with the girls planning and planting the Children's Garden. She said she was really proud of the girls for the effort they had put into their gardens.
The two Kuskie sisters and their cousin Ricci were the only children who took part in the Children's Garden this year. Kuskie said they started it just to have something to do over the summer, but she has grown to like gardening. She even likes weeding the garden "only not on hot days."
"Weeding is an important part of gardening. You have to keep the weeds out of the garden so they don't take water and nutrients from the other plants," Kuskie said.
The three girls like gardening so much they even started their own personal garden plot at WCG where they are growing corn, squash, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, among other vegetables.
The girls were given the money made at the farmers market to use as they wished. Kuskie, who is 11, said she was going to save it for college; her younger sister Jovi is going to start a bank account and the girls' cousin Ricci is "just going to buy some stuff," Kuskie said.
She urged everyone to come by their table at the next farmers market on Aug. 4, "Then we'll have a lot of vegetables."
Amanda Hoffer, director of the WCG board, said the board has partnered with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada for a special project to find out what local residents want as far as fresh produce. The board is asking for help from local growers and consumers to find out what is being grown and what consumers want. Anyone wishing to participate in the project should contact Hoffer at (775) 560-6293.
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