On Wednesday, Richmond resident Johnny Tai’s garden was enveloped in the joy of children’s laughter.
A group of 15 young campers from Richmond Nature Park visited Tai’s backyard for the first time and everyone left there with a small succulent plant in their hands and a smile on their faces.
Students aged eight to 13 toured around in his backyard – which often draws a crowd to its 10,000 kinds of cacti and succulents at its Cambie and Shell roads location.
A few campers took pictures of the blooming cactus flowers, while others walked around to experience the beauty of nature, recalled Pamela Choi, the summer coordinator at Richmond Nature Park Society.
“After reading the article in the Richmond News, I thought it would be beneficial and interesting for children to see a home garden because many children live in condominiums,” said Angela Soon, the community facilities programmer from City of Richmond.
Choi sees the garden tour as a great opportunity for students to understand that cacti and succulents have various species, and also develop students’ interest of gardening.
“Students were wowed with how cool the cacti and succulents look, some of them look like pineapples, some are like candy, others look like the tail of the monkey, so it’s very eye-opening for them to see that,” Choi continued. “If they were not into gardening before, they are now.”
Moreover, Choi hopes students understand planting or farming could make a huge impact on the environment and make the world a better place to live, and also take a moment to appreciate the food they eat.
“Sometimes we go to the supermarket for grocery shopping, it seems really easy to get food, but actually there is so much work behind that,” said Choi.
“We want kids to learn where the food comes from, and how much effort farmers spent on growing crops.”
Unlike other field trips, which usually arrange for campers to visit public gardens, walking in a resident’s backyard is something students couldn’t be taught at school, said Choi.
“Going to a private backyard isn’t just something for fun, but actually you might realize you could start planting at home and take care of your own plants, like what Johnny did.”
And each camper was given a little succulent to take home at the end of the visit.
