A rooster crowed in the distance as three Junior Grange members raked through their garden at Alderbrook Farm on July 27.

The trio finished their gardening chores before settling in for a plant and artwork event, in which they would use natural resources—including sticks, leaves, roots, and vegetables—to create patterns on their canvases.

“Every year, we try to do a project that involves art and the garden,” said Junior Grange leader Sarah Cogswell. “This time, we have a lot of leafy items. It depends on the time of year.”

Junior Grange President Massimo Vliet painted the innards of a tomato blue before stamping it onto his paper. The tomato was also popular with five-year-old Ian Brodsky, who not only used it as a stamp, but painted the outside of the tomato with pinks and yellows.

“I’m going to mix colors on the cardboard,” said Sloane Brodsky, who mixed paints to add greens and pinks to her page.

The outdoor setting was exactly what the Dartmouth Grange and Junior Grange are all about—agricultural, community, service, and leadership, said Cogswell.

Cogswell explained that the Junior Grange—the children’s equivalent to the Dartmouth Grange—went defunct in the 1970s, and that this is its third year back in action.

The juniors also do activities including gardening, tile painting, and soap whittling accompanied by knife safety demonstrations.

The Dartmouth Grange is located at 1133 Fisher Road.