Whether you can pin it on our First Lady, the growing interest in knowing where our food comes from, or the fact that kids just like to play in the dirt, veggie gardening among kids is growing and blossoming. It’s fabulous to see. There are so many munchkin farmers in our communities now.

One thing though: Funding for kids’ gardening activities is not exactly keeping pace with the interest. It’s difficult for schools to find the extra dollars to establish vegetable gardens for their kids, and in this current economic environment it’s hard enough to fund the basic curriculum, let alone find the resources to make a garden grow.

So oftentimes the funding comes from volunteer organizations and parents. And that skews to communities where families have the extra cash to give to such efforts.

Funding Options

There are funding sources available if you search for them. One that I am familiar with is the Burpee Youth Garden Award. They are now accepting applications for the 2012 I Can Grow Youth Garden Award.

Now in it’s third year, Burpee Home Gardens will give out five grand prizes of up to 500 veggie and herb plants; 5 gallons of Daniel’s Plant Food (I LOVE that stuff, as you know); a hose-end sprayer (didn’t I rave about hose-end sprayers this summer?); and a Flip video camera to catch all the gardening action.

The top two entries also will receive $2,500 for gardening supplies and on-site assistance from the Burpee Home Gardens veggie gardening experts.

So, if you are involved in your child’s school garden or have a youth program going in your community garden, this could be a good way for you to get hold of some much-needed materials and possible funding to purchase tools, gloves, and whatnot.

Get working on those applications now. The deadline is December 23. Go to www.burpeehomegardens.com for more info.