A Successful Harvest


Today we were able to realize one of the main goals of Seed 2 Green which is to distribute our organically grown produce to people in the community in need of nutritious, fresh food.  We reached out to a local organization called the Bronx AIDS Services (BAS) who runs a nutrition program for its patients and they happily accepted our donations.  CEO Candia Richards-Clarke came with two other BAS employees to see the garden and help with the harvest.  They left with a heavy bag full of vegetables and a little while later I was given a tour of the BAS office and was introduced to more people in the organizaton.  Sojourner, a BAS employee, cleaned and bagged the items which over the next day or so will be given to local patients suffering from AIDS.  She explained that good nutrition is vital to improve the quality of lives of those who are infected and hopes to continue a relationship with Grace Dodge High School and the Seed 2 Green club.

Cutting basil stems

Harvesting lettuce

Brad and Ms. Richards-Clarke

BAS (Bronx AIDS Services) Logo

Bagged veggies ready for distribution

 

Sojourner in the BAS kitchen

Posing with our chard. dill, and kale

Lookin' Good Enough To Eat...

Hey everyone, it's been a while since our last post but we've got some great things to show for all of our hard work in the garden this spring and summer.  Many students and staff here at Grace Dodge HS have been continuing their comminitment with watering, pruning, and looking after our six raised bed plots in front of the school.  We planted our crops (mostly from seeds) in mid May and two months later our garden looks healthy and a lot of our crops are almost ready to eat!  It's been a pleasure to hear so many positive comments and words of encouragement from strangers just passing by, many saying that they've been watching the whole process from day one.  It's been a very inspiring process to see our community here in the Bronx take a renewed ownership this land and do something that shows it's possible to create positive change with our hard work and commitment to the Seed 2 Green club's vision of a comminity garden.  Here is what some of our crops are looking like these days:



string peas

swiss chard

tomatoes

kale

banana peppers

radishes

basil

onion

red chard

 carrots

lettuce

dill

As one teacher said to me earlier today, "Now the only thing to do is pick out what kind of salad dressing you'd like."

Watching, Waiting, and Watering

Although this past week has been dry, NYC was fortunate enough to receive a good amount of rainfall recently which has really helped our garden out a lot.  Our brand new hose has also been a key element in helping the plants grow when the rain isn't falling and a few Grace Dodge students offered their services and watered the garden earlier in the day while the sun was still shining.  As you can see, things are looking good!



First Signs of Life

Spring is here in New York City and we are two days away from the month anniversary of the construction our garden here at Grace Dodge High School.  As of one week ago, all of the raised beds have either food starters or seeds in them (and thanks again to Mr. Watson for donating two those flats of starters!)...and a few of the seed sprouts are begining to show.  We've also recently acquired a garden hose that will help make the daily process of watering the beds much easier.  A lot of positive feedback (and welcome suggestions) has been given by teachers, students, school safety personnel, and community members in general as its presence becomes even more noticable as the plants grow bigger and greener each day...

What we have planted:

Lettuce
Carrots (orange, red, and purple)
String beans
Banana peppers
Aloe
Onions
Raddish
Dwarf beans
Swiss chard
Broccoli
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Kale
Basil
Dill
Parsley
Oregano

 

  (from back to front: tomaotes, eggplant, banana peppers, and basil)



Making It Happen

Well, after months of planning, preparation, and hard work, the Seed 2 Green club finally had the chance to roll up their sleeves and begin the physical process of putting together the garden.  Along with help from 25 corporate volunteers from Burberry and some assistants from the Bronx Green-Up, we were able to change change our school's landscape in the matter of two days.  The long hours that we clocked in on April 14th and 15th proved to be very successful for Seed 2 Green and our community as a whole.  Take a look!



Lots of Updates...

Hello there and sorry for the long time in between posts!  Well, it's spring time here in New York City and we've got lots of news for everyone.  First of all, we have received great news about one of the grants that we have been working on.  Burberry has given us $550 and we will be using the money to purchase materials for our raised bed gardens!  We're very excited about the news and have a date set for our groundbreaking ceremony which is Friday, April 15th.  Thirty Burberry volunteers will come and assist us with moving the soil into the wooden frames, mulching, and planting seeds that will eventually give us organic food to eat.  We'll be spending three hours working this day which should be enough to finish the project.  All of us are looking forward to seeing all of our hard work pay off!

On a related note, three Seed 2 Green students presented our project to an audience of their peers on March 18th at the Good Shepherd Services Youth Summit.  We displayed a slide show that described our planning process for the Seed 2 Green project and discussed environmental factors in our city.  Everyone was very receptive to our ideas and we felt even more encouraged to be environmentalists by the end of the day.

Timothy at the Youth Summit. 

Maite looking happy.

The Youth Summit Logo.

A special congratulations to Elisha for her hard work and participation in the youth summit steering committee.  Way to go!

Student Interviews

Please play the following videos to hear some of the Seed 2 Green group members speak about their experience with various aspects of our project.  Enjoy.