Jersey

By Juliet Kaszas-Hoch | on August 02, 2023

While interning with the Ocean County Soil Conservation District a few years ago, Gabriella Marzella worked to combine the necessary steps to earn the Girl Scouts’ Junior Gardener Badge with the online tools and resources of the Jersey-Friendly Yards website – the result of which was a creative and easy-to-follow online guide for scouts. As the OCSCD notes, Girl Scouts can earn this particular badge by “digging your hands into the earth and spending time with soil, water and sunlight to find out how to help life grow from a tiny seed.”

The Jersey-Friendly Yards website, jerseyyards.org, promotes best landscaping practices for a healthy yard and a healthy environment. The Barnegat Bay Partnership took the first step in developing Jersey-Friendly Yards in 2013, when it funded the OCSCD’s Soil Health Improvement Project. “The project,” as the website notes, “provided property owners with information about simple, low-cost and practical soil restoration techniques and also created five public native plant gardens demonstrating choices for different environmental conditions a homeowner or landscaper may encounter.”

DEP then awarded the program a grant to develop the website as a comprehensive online source of information about environmentally friendly landscaping throughout New Jersey, and the site launched in 2015.

While creating her guide for Girl Scouts to earn their Junior Gardener Badge, Marzella originated the online character “Gardener Gab” to lead the scouts as they endeavor to earn their patch. With the help of website designer Lisa Mazzuca, Marzella’s ideas found a home on the OCSCD website, at soildistrict.org/girl-scout-gardener-badge.

Gardener Gab guides scouts through five steps that earn them their badge and, in addition, grows them into Jersey-Friendly gardeners. “With my help,” the character states, “you will have the chance to: visit a garden, explore garden design, grow six plants, experiment with seeds and soil and help with a community garden.”

Girl Scouts have, first, the option of either visiting a garden outdoors or exploring a virtual garden. “Make note of your favorite plants in case you decide to grow them yourself,” Gardener Gab remarks.

The scouts are then tasked with planning their dream garden by cutting out pictures of flowers, plants and trees from magazines and arranging a garden plan. As Gardener Gab encourages, “Use the photos to experiment with various layouts. Or, download pictures you find online and arrange them in a Word or Google doc.”

Step three is learning how to choose plants based on the plant hardiness zone in which the scout lives, and then finding six plants that would grow best in that climate and soil type.

Next up? “Learn how seeds germinate and plants grow,” says Gardener Gab. “Experiment with seeds from a plant you like. Figure out what soil, water and light conditions work best when growing plants in your space. Make observations and determine how long it takes for the first leaves to poke through the soil? Do all plants grow at the same rate? Which plants grew the best?”

Helping out in a community garden is step five. “Be sure to ask for help with planting and permission to use the space” when working in a public area, Gardener Gab mentions. Scouts are also encouraged to educate family, friends and neighbors about soil health, stormwater pollution and how to create a Jersey-Friendly yard with native plants.

Each of these steps outlined on the OCSCD website links to additional information, including educational videos and fun graphics. Learn how to avoid invasive plants, watch a seed grow and much more. There’s also a link to the Junior Gardener Badge Pinterest Board, at pinterest.com/gprograms/junior-resources, for even more suggestions.

When the scout finishes all the steps, they’ve earned their badge, which a troop leader can purchase at girlscoutshop.com/junior-gardener-badge. As the Girl Scouts note, “Awards and badges are a great way for a girl to explore her interests and learn new skills and show the world what she’s accomplished.” —J.K.-H.

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