I am sad to say that this is our last week with the youth at Green Thumbs. It feels like we just started and are getting into the groove of programming, building and gardening….and there’s so much more we could be doing! This has been an immense learning experience and quite satisfying really…I definitely have more ideas on how to involve youth in urban agriculture, and food and environmental education. And it’s been amazing to partner with Youth Voices Research Group (shout out to Monica, Stephen, Samy, Andrea and Jill)!
We went to FoodCycles yesterday morning and it was fantastic. We got to help pull out weeds from the asparagus bed (which won’t be ready to harvest for another couple years!). With the amount of people on hand, we were able to do at least four hours worth of weeding in half an hour!
Ashlee, Mojo, Fernando and Orion were great hosts and gave us a lengthy tour of the FoodCycles space and how farming can work in the city(apparently according to soil tests — the land cultivated by FoodCycles is some of the best soil in all of Ontario — including rural land — defying the mainstream belief that city land is too polluted to grow food in!). They went into detail about the challenges and successes they experienced, and we were able to sample some of the delicious tomatoes and plants too! J.J. got particularly interested in their worm casting screening contraption, this two level screen system. We marveled at the garlic curing in the greenhouse and the various sprout varieties under production.
Quite fittingly, the youth are hosting tomorrow, under the guidance of Youth Voices Research Group, a drop-in presentation and celebration of the Food4Health Equity project in St. James Town via photos, stories, blogging, gardening and other means. Details re-iterated below!
Where: 225 Wellesley Street East, Unit 4B (at street level)
When: From 5:30 to 9 pm
All are welcome! Fresh, healthy food available! Prizes! FREE!
I definitely have more thoughts to share on the matter of having a dedicated group of youth working with us this summer and more photos to share. Best. Summer. Ever. (I said the same thing last year!). Now must get ready for our last summer drop- in. 🙁
This entry is also cross-posted on the Food4HealthEquity’s blog.
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