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Sprouts Study Nature

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE

Members of the Junior Master Gradener's Club in Lutz went on a bug hunt during their weekly meeting Wed. The club has been working on expanding the garden and wildlife habitat area in front of Nye Park recreation center, 630 Sunset Lane. IN PHOTO--(LF TO RT) Jarrett Fain, 11, and Isabelle Yucatonis, 8, (yes, that is a little girl!) use magnifying glasses to look for all types of bugs during the meeting.

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2007

Additional Photos

LUTZ - The handful of budding horticulturists, armed with gloves and a magnifying glass, recently set out for the big bug hunt.

After about 20 minutes of crouching, digging, poking and peering, the grade-schoolers in the Junior Master Gardeners Club found 46 creepy crawlies in 38 species.

There were earwigs, a Gulf fritillary caterpillar, dragonflies, grasshoppers, red mites, beetles, bees, a red ant, a baby spider, a red chinch bug, a gray lizard and plenty of native butterflies.

The bug count at Nye Park - where the young gardeners recorded anything flying or crawling in their garden - established the baseline data to monitor the health of the garden. The club plans to make the insect tally an annual event.

'We want to see how well our wildlife habitat is working,' said Jan Means, a master gardener who leads the young gardeners group.

The garden, on a grassy patch between the recreation center and Sunset Lane, began in 2001. The project is the work of the Junior Master Gardeners after-school program at the Nye Park recreation center. The club meets once a week throughout the school year.

Students learn about wildlife habitats, growing plants, composting and water conservation.

The garden, certified in 2005 as a wildlife habitat by the Cooperative Urban Wildlife Program at the University of Florida, is separated into three areas.

The main section is the wildlife garden featuring native plants that circle a gravel, horseshoe-shaped pathway. Most plants are labeled with their common and botanical names.

Along the side lies the vegetable garden where young lettuce leaves and radishes sprout in black earth box containers. And a compost area shows passers-by how organic materials decompose, while another bin collects mulch.

Means said the bug count showed the garden is attracting a long list of native wildlife, a natural since all plants in the garden are native plants.

Before the group set out, Means' husband, Jeff, gave the youngsters a few tips on catching the winged insects or crawling critters in their natural habitat.

'The key here is absolutely not to run. The slower you go, the more you'll see. When you're looking for bugs, go very slow,' he said.

Jeff Means suggested the kids look beneath the mulch beds and peek under plant leaves, which is where insects often lay their eggs.

'We're not going to be handling bugs,' he said. 'We're just going to try to find them. It's a way to learn about what goes on in this wonderful garden.'

While the young bug hunters scoured the terrain for six- and eight-legged creatures, the club's advisers logged the findings in a legal pad.

They usually spend some time in the garden each week, said Jan Means. If they are not on their knees digging and watering the plants, they are raking pine straw for the mulch, she said.

After learning specific coursework, students are certified as junior master gardeners.

After the bug count, a few gardeners helped plant herbs in the Taste Me box - a collection of edible herbs including orange mint, lemon balm, peppermint, chocolate mint and dotted mint.

Staycie Polo, 10, deemed the big bug count a success.

'We found a lot of good, interesting bugs. It just takes some patience,' said Staycie, a certified Junior Master Gardener.

'Some of them we never knew about before,' said Kira Darby, 10, the club's champion carrot grower.

Kira, another junior master gardener, said she loves to learn about the plants and animals.

And the keys to her blossoming green thumb?

'Love and care, sunlight and water, and everything every plant needs and lots of sunshine,' she said.

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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