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The project has seven gardens in Montezuma County, all on school grounds in an effort to educate students.
“It is a project that has school gardens across the county in Cortez, Mancos and Dolores,” said Maryssa Schlough, of AmeriCorps Colorado. “We most recently moved into Manaugh last summer and are currently teaching classes there, which is a huge success.”
At Friday’s event, members of the public were encouraged to explore the garden and buy pumpkins donated to the organization.
Michael McMillan, of AmeriCorps, serves at the Cortez Middle School garden and helps to educate the students.
The sixth- and seventh-grade agriculture classes also carved pumpkins.
“They had to imagine what the wanted their pumpkin to look like, and they got to carve it and save seeds from it,” Schlough said. “The kids also had to give a one-minute presentation to advocate for themselves, saying why they thought their pumpkin was the best. And then as a class, they voted on whose was the most creative and the best.”
The students saved the seeds for roasting in an oven on the property. They added seasonings and were able to eat the seeds on-site.
