Sunny Patch Kid's Garden Club Opens in Suffield

From Hilltop Farm:

Here We Grow again!

April 13, 2016 - As a part of a year long tenth birthday celebration, Sunny Patch Kid’s Garden Club is pleased to announce the grand opening of their new location in Suffield. The facility and gardens are located on the grounds of Hilltop Farm, the homestead of gentleman farmer and founder of Indian Motorcycles, George Hendee.

For ten years Sunny Patch Kid’s Garden Club (Sunny Patch) has provided children of the Enfield community with these valuable experiences. An outcrop of the project Common Grounds Rotary Garden, Sunny Patch began as a small 20 foot round garden for the children of volunteers at Common Grounds. It was a fun way to occupy the kids while parents enjoyed harvesting produce for area food relief agencies. It quickly grew into a weekly class designed to help the children become good gardeners themselves. By 2012 many Sunny Patch Kids were graduating from high school or going off to college, some even becoming agricultural teachers themselves. Sunny Patch classes outgrew their space. In 2014 Amalita van Buuren, the Master Gardener who designed Sunny Patch, was awarded a grant from her alma mater, Smith College, to build a permanent regional children’s educational center. Sunny Patch at Hilltop Farm was born.

Sunny Patch at Hilltop Farm is a educational gardening facility that offers quality horticultural and nature programs for children ages 2-16. It is located on the grounds of Hilltop Farm at 1616 Mapleton Road (Route 159) in Suffield. The rolling hills and sweeping views of the Connecticut River and of Suffield provide a unique space for the children to roam, play and learn. Working with the Friends of the Farm at Hilltop and Smith College, Amalita created a comprehensive plan for a regional garden center. With the help of 30 children from the Enfield and Suffield area and their parents, one half an acre of wild field land was reclaimed in order to build a vegetable garden, a Victorian herb garden, a large wrought iron arbor and a playing lawn. The result is a kid-friendly space to work, play and learn! Mrs van Buuren knows that more than just fun is at stake.

“At Sunny Patch we are dedicated to protecting our agricultural heritage by teaching children how to be careful stewards of the land. We want to help children of all ages explore nature and their own creativity but we also want them to face the challenges of seeing a garden through from beginning to end. Not only will they take away plants vegetables, herbs and crafts; they will take away a love for the earth and a new respect for their abilities and for others.”

Sunny Patch will be celebrating their tenth birthday with an entire season of activities. Kick-off begins with Earth Day Open House on Friday April 22nd and Saturday April 23rd from 10-1. Sunny Patch members new and old and the public can come check out our new digs, participate in free gardening games and activities! Throughout the spring and summer there are a number of free events schedule along with spring and summer classes for children from age 2 up to age 16. Registration is now open. Spring classes begin on May 14. Sunny Patch also would like to invite all former Sunny Patch Kids to Sunny Patch Reunion on Labor Day at the farm as a part of the FarmFest activities sponsored by FoFaH.

Sandy Donelan, whose daughter Cara started attending Sunny Patch a year after its inception appreciates how important Sunny Patch is for our children.

“I am so thankful my daughter and the children of greater-Enfield have had the opportunity to participate in the awesome summer gardening program, The Sunny Patch Kids! Over the years, she has gained much more than gardening knowledge while participating in the Sunny Patch program.” Cara has grown up with Sunny Patch in Enfield and will be a volunteer at Sunny Patch at Hilltop Farm. Just as was done for her, she will be passing along her skills and knowledge to a new set of little ones who will be experiencing Sunny Patch for the first time.

The staff and volunteers at Sunny Patch invite you to come and experience a season of gardening and activities at our new home at Hilltop Farm. To become a member or for more information on events and classes send an e-mail with your name and area of interest to hilltopsunnypatch@gmail.com or search Facebook for SunnyPatchKids.

More about Amalita van Buuren: Amalita van Buuren is a Master Gardener and the Program Coordinator for Sunny Patch Kid’s Garden Club. She graduated from Smith College with a degree in government and economics and has spent the last few years designing gardens for public use. Amalita has received a Rotary Club Paul Harris award and a State of Connecticut General Assembly Citation for her commitment to service to the community and for her gardening achievements throughout the years. In 2012 she received the Helen Gurley Brown Magic Grant for Ada Comstock Scholars from Smith College in order to build her dream of a regional agricultural facility for young children. Contact her at AmalitavanBuuren@gmail.com

More about Hilltop Farm

Hilltop Farm is located on a hill overlooking the Connecticut River just below the Massachusetts border on route 159. The Farm is perched on 117 acres of pristine New England countryside. In 2009 it was purchased and is managed by the Friends of the Farm at Hilltop. Billed Connecticut’s Agricultural Cathedral the 20,000 ft colonial revival style dairy barn located on the property is on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information on Hilltop Farm: http://www.hilltopfarmsuffield.org/about/the-farm

More about Helen Gurley Magic Grant for Smith College Ada Comstock Scholars

The Magic Grant is awarded yearly to a recently graduated Smith College Ada Comstock Scholar. Ada Comstock Scholars are high performing student of non-traditional age who want to acquire or finish their college degree at Smith. The grants are funded by an endowment from the estate of the late Helen Gurley Brown, legendary editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, and are designed to help Adas “reach their highest potential by underwriting some of the expenses associated with internships, independent research, creative and artistic projects and development of innovative ideas and business plans.” More information can be found on the website of Smith College.