The Learning Garden at Steve Cox Memorial Park was created to give teens the opportunity to learn how to grow and maintain different kinds of plants. This year, teen volunteers and White Center Teen Program staff prepped the Garden during the WC Spring Clean and then planted starts donated by the King County Greenhouse program. All season long the volunteers and staff care for the garden during the growing season to produce an estimated 100lbs+ of food. The fruits & vegetables are then incorporated into weekly dinners at the Cabin through Burnt Toast cooking classes. In addition, pumpkins grown in the garden are used during the Halloween Event as giveaways to local families.

In 2013, King County planned to to tear down the picnic shelter at the SE corner of #SteveCoxMemorialPark. Fortunately for the Cabin, Jody had the genius idea of converting the space into the WCTP Learning Garden. Through the years, numerous King County Crews, Local Businesses and Teen Volunteers have worked hard to keep the Cabin well stocked in #freshproduce.

The garden shed (a repurposed cargo container) was added to the garden in 2014 through the efforts of King County Operations Manager, Don Harig. During the spring clean that year, TJ and the teens dedicated the four walls of the shed to the four seasons in the park.

During the pandemic, the garden provided fresh produce to local teens and families through the doorstep delivery program. The garden also become a hub for group meetings and volunteer events. It continues to offer a great covered space to hold larger group meetings outside while also being able to see the progress in the garden and the artwork around the shed. In 2021, the garden hosted the inaugural class of the King County Park Volunteer Program’s Youth Conservation Corp.

The learning garden is about community, and the teen program extends thanks to all of the internal and external teams that have kept it open and running for over a decade:

Thank you to Ms. Quinn and everyone at the KCP greenhouse for the starts!

Thank you to the entire Sunset Crew for all the ongoing support in the garden day in and day out!

Thank you to the S Utility Crew and the Archeology team for the new fence!

Thank you to Mr W and the crafts crew for the garden benches, tables, hoops and nets!

Thank you to the KCP Arborist team for looking after the trees in the garden and the park at large.

Thank you to all the teen volunteers who tend to the garden all season long!

Thank you to all of our Facility Coordinators who help keep the plants watered!

Special Shoutout to our Master Gardener, Jody, for her vision and continued dedication to educate teens about #localgardening.

Thank you to all the KCP leaders that believed in the garden and made it happen.

Thank you to all the storytellers that have shared the garden (and the Cabin at large) with the world.

And thank you in advance to Chef Frank and the rest of the Log Cabin staff for all the tasty dinners to come.