Although it’s still mostly undeveloped, Redmond’s Juel Park, named for community benefactors Dr. Glen and Mrs. Betty Juel, has new and upcoming programs to promote nature.

Located on Northeast 116th Avenue Northeast, just a few blocks east of Avondale Road, Juel Park now features a community garden and will soon offer children’s programs from the Golden Lotus School at the small house that sits on the property.

“The building for 40 years belonged to the Juel family and they wanted to keep up a big garden here,” said Tami Cobb, park programs coordinator. “It’s so wonderful that some founding families really liked the idea of giving back to the community.”

Nearby Farrel-McWhirter Park in Redmond also came about through a land donation from an early resident.

As of a visit to Juel Park on May 12, only three plots out of 38 were still available for the community garden and there were several more names on a “wait” list but “we might extend the garden, if we can,” Cobb said.

There’s also been some interest in setting up a program where gardeners can donate surplus produce to a food bank such as Hopelink.

Classes from the Golden Lotus School — now being held at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center in downtown Redmond — will switch over to the house at Juel Park when it’s ready for occupancy. Those programs are all about “a healthy lifestyle, wellness, being in touch with nature,” Cobb said.

Kids will learn how to grow and harvest veggies, keep weather journals, learn about herbs that prevent or treat illness and so on.

Yoga, meditation and art such as nature drawing will be the subjects of other classes at Juel Park.

To learn more about the Juel Community Garden or park programs from the Golden Lotus School call (425) 556-2300, visit the Redmond Parks information desk at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th St. or view the online Redmond Recreation Guide at

http://www.redmond.gov/insidecityhall/parksrecGuide/guide.asp