Cherry tomatoes around our outdoor classroom are already bearing fruit! 

We took home LOADS of cilantro. Sofrito anyone? 

Cilantro Harvest

Today working outside was not difficult because the sun came out but not for long. And we harvested and some people even went to sell [cilantro] on Park Street and we went to United Way. -Theresa Today was a good day. We went to Park Street and sold some cilantro. We went to any store we could find to sell two for one. Shannon let a lady have one for free. We did the selling all together, Donna, Shannon, Rodney, and me. -Precious

Planting squash. June 22, 2004  

Our garden, our responsibilities

Describe what you did today. What did you learn about yourself? Use specific examples. Today is June 22, 2004 and we mulched paths today. It was cool outside. Not too cold and not too hot. We notice a lot about our garden. We noticed that we have a big responsibility and tasks to perform. We talked about ideas about what we can do with the cilantro. Watering and pest management are becoming a big issue. We need to figure out a way to stop bugs from eating the crops. I learned about myself today- how to work and manage my attitude. Being an example is in your attitude and energy. Also today Desmond [a local farmer] came and brought us some peppers and calalloo and talked to Laura. -Jerica

Peanuts Please

What did you eat today? Was it grown in the garden? What is your favorite food being grown in the garden? I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwich but it's not growing in the garden. If it was growing in the garden I would eat it when I come [to the program]. My favorite food being grown right now in the garden is raspberries. I like raspberries and they taste good. -Deshawn

Transplanting the flowers. We planted beds of statice, cosmos, zinnias, calendula, and mignonette that we'll be selling at our farmers market. 

We inherit a Puerto Rican garden

Several days ago I was approached with a curious proposal from Victor, our neighbor gardener from the senior living facility next door. For almost nine years Victor has been growing heaps of beans, melons, potatoes, peppers and cilantro on a one acre plot of land behind GROW Hartford. In two weeks Victor will move back to Puerto Rico leaving us the precious gift of his foot high bean plants, tools, and another acre of gorgeous soil. On our site "tour" today the youth peppered me with questions about how Victor managed his expansive plot of land. Why didn't he use beds? Where were the paths? Why were the melons planted throughout the bean field? (Victor was a farmer in Puerto Rico where he learned intercropping techniques to save space.) After some discussion, the group decided to take over the care, maintainance and marketing of crops on this plot. We'll look forward to harvesting all of those red, white, pinto, and rosada beans, black and pinta calabaza, sweet peppers, potatoes, and melons. -Laura

Flower planting fest

Today we planted flowers. It was fun, especially when me and Jerica did the compost. I also liked when we did the tour. Me and Deshawn took pictures of what we did that showed progress. I liked when we did the hunger banquet. I also liked when everyone participated in activities and eating the food [at the hunger banquet]. I don't like it when people come late. -Rodney Today we planted a lot of flowers and then we went to the united Way. We had an activity when one group had pizza and soda and the other group had bread sticks and cheese. It was fun today. -Deshawn

One small flower transplant. 

Cucumber beetles. Fortunately we found these at the Holcomb Farm CSA, not at GROW Hartford. June 12, 2004 

Sam, the farmer, shows us how to thin the cucmbers at Holcomb. 

We learn to roll up row cover at the Holcomb Farm Community Supported Agriculture Project in West Granby, CT. June 12, 2004 

Visiting Holcomb Farm

Saturday June 12, 2004 Today was fun because we went to the Holcomb Farm and the part of the day I liked was when we had a tour of the farm and we got to pick strawberries.- Theresa Talk about a teamwork challenge you had today. Why was it a challenge? Did you have a teamwork success? Why? A teamwork we did today was when we went on the field trip. We learned what stuff we have [at GROW Hartford] and what they have [at Holcomb]. They have different soil than us. Their vegetables grow faster than ours. Then we had a tour. I liked when we saw the river. -Donna

Collards greens in our fields. June 10, 2004 

Planting flowers at the end of each bed. June 10, 2004  

Learning a lesson

Today was a good day and even though I was late I still had fun. And the part of the day I did like was when I had to fish [apply a liquid fish fertilizer] and I liked when I had to hit the stakes. Did you think of a way to do a better job at a task you had to do? What makes the job better? To make the job better we should not be late and if you don't want to come in you should call in and not leave everyone waiting for you. -Theresa

Reviewing the nutrition information and packaging location on a can of sausage. 

Jiff Martin teaches a Cultivating Community lesson called "Traveling Lunch" at United Way.  

Bring a Friend Day

Saturday June 5, 2004 Today we didn't let the bugs stop us from working. Today was sunny outside. It was pretty hot out too. It was bring a friend/relative day. The kids planted and weeded today. (Parsley, chard, summer squash, cucumbers, and more.) We took out the lettuce because it was dying. We replaced it with chard. We made a model out in the field for herbs. Our potatoes are growing. I can see the roots on the plants. We watered the plants with fish water. -Jerica Thursday, June 3 Today's experience was that we dug [ a ditch] to flow the water. [We have a very serious drainage problem at the site.] It was a muddy and wet job]

Watching the movie "Supersize Me". ) 

More About Supersize Me

Thursday, June 3, 2004 The following are clips from a discussion we had the day after watching Supersize me. We asked the group to discuss the movie with someone at home or school. Donna talked to her health teacher and found out that he had once been very unhealthy from eating fast food but had changed to a healthier diet. Jerica (who was quite upset by the movie) used it as a topic for debate among friends and in her current events class. Here are some of the questions and responses in our discussion:  Why do you think Spurlock chose to do this experiment? Was it effective? It what ways? The movie showed that lots of people get fat off fast food and that a lot of people eat fast food a lot. I want to eat some of my mom's cooking too. People get big from eating McDonald's. -Rodney What is the school lunch program like at your school? What choices do you make when you eat lunch at school? Different schools eat different things. Some schools food comes out of boxes and is not replaced freshly. It's unfair. We want to eat well. It depends on who is running the system. Who has the money. If people want to think of food we could eat better. [This participant also described how the fresh salads at her school were often made with brown wilted lettuce making other options, such a pizza, more appealing] -Jerica [At my school] we have some cheap freezer stuff. It is shipped and frozen and stuff and then they feed it to the kids. The teachers don't eat that but the students do. -Rodney [We asked the group what they considered fast food? Is the food your mom makes fast food? Is Spurlock's point that fast food is bad?] You get it fast. Fast food is cooked by someone else. But fast food can be healthy. [We also had a short discussion about bread. The participants felt that wonder bread is not healthy food, but wheat bread is.]The quality of the food. Now they take meat out of the freezer and put it in the microwave. - Donna, Rodney  How is this movie related to what we are doing at GROW Hartford? Why do you think we watched it? It's related because our food is healthy. We grow our stuff and theirs is shipped. [They put] lots of other stuff in the food. [Do you think McDonald's would use the vegetables we harvest at GROW Hartford?] No! They were trying to say if [it was cheaper to get fresh foods people would.] If people would advertise healthier foods then other people would eat it.

Watching Supersize me

Thursday June 3, 2004 [Today we had the great opportunity to take program participants to see the new movie "Supersize me" in the theater. Here are some initial reactions to the movie.] Today we went to cinema city which is a movie theater. We watched "Supersize Me" which is a movie that is about a guy who wants to eat McDonald's for a whole month. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And he got sick and he could've died if he kept going. He gained about 30 pounds in a month and that's a lot. -Jonathan The movie upset me because I felt the issue was bigger than what was shown. [Other issues] 1) My school lunch 2) Advertising healthy not unhealthy 3) Self control 4) How a child is taught -Jerica

Painting a sign for the Laurel Street Farmers Market.  

Getting ready for farmers market

Today I worked with Shannon planting seeds. I planted cucumbers on a 50 flat. Then I planted flowers. Then Karen came and I started painting on the board with Jazzmine doing the corner. The colors I used were pink, purple, burgundy, and orange. And the colors came out nice because they were different from the other colors. It was very cold and it was raining. -Jonathan