Thursday, December 22, 2005

Winter Solstice Reflection In An Icy Garden

winter garden Posted by Picasa Yesterday was the official first day of winter and the good news is that means the days will be getting longer from here on out! I admit that I haven't been out in the garden much since the temperature has been stadily below my West Coast tolerance for winter. From the looks of it we could almost ice skate down the paths. There are planty of tracks in the snow proving that the garden is not fully dormant in winter. What I can gues are mostly rabbits, mice, some cat prints and maybe birds. On thing I can't find a trace of, of course, are our favotirte garden creatures. BUGS and WORMS of course! What happens tothem I wondered and although I enjoyed the image I conjured up of a worm family cozily coiled around a fireplace munching some rotting beet we left in the ground, I know it wasn't true. II discovered that insects hibernate or are handily equiped with an 'antifreeze' type blood. And the worms, well they have a pretty intelligent winter coping mechanism...better then mine at least. Next year remind me to follow the geese south!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Hello every one!

Hey guys! Just at the office working on a manual for next season. Hope to see you soon. Have a Merry Chritmas & a Happy New Year! Jerica!!!!

Friday, November 25, 2005

it's me theresa

Hi it's me theresa and i just want to say hi to everybody.
holla!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

It's your favorite blogger

It's your favorite blogger chillin' at school. I just wanted to stop in and say hi! Miss you all! Love Ya-Ya

Monday, October 24, 2005

Red Tail Hawk's Eye View

This beautiful photo was taken by UCONN landscape arcitecture student Sabrina Buttitta from the roof of the Underswood Senior Apartments. It is a great perspective on how urban agriculture fits into our cityscape. You can see I-84 winding in the background just as the banks of the Park River used to hug the land against the garden. Urban mini-farms such as GROW are an oasis of new opportunity for our cities; from outdoor education, to micro-enterprise potentials, for wildlife, and transformative beauty. For me it is a reminder that the city still connects to the earth, where natural features and topography are released to express themselves and interact with the human elements fo the modern city. This is an easy thing to forget as sit in traffic on Park St. watching layers of asphalt and stone laid down, but important to remember when you create the opportunity to harvest red sweet tomatoes on a lot that used to be filled with debris and scare the squirrels away from a neat and row of rasberries.-Shannon

Thursday, September 29, 2005


Tomatoes, squash, broccoli, eggplant! Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Striking a Pose at the Durham Fair

Despite a fuss over the smell the ruminant barn was a picturesque background for these crazy animals to check out goats, sheep and llamas! And while I could have spent all day watching the beasts of burden pull 1000's of pounds of bricks, The crew spent the most time in the crafts barn and seemed thouroughly impressed by the paintings , dioramas, and knitting of their peers!

Blue Ribbon Bunny

The challenge was to leave the fair with a favorite farm animal..in your head, not under your arm. Almost unanimously was the bunny!

Monday, September 19, 2005

A successful close to our first market season

This past Saturday was our final day of the market. It was beautiful weather, not a rainy day all season. We want to thank all the supports and shoppers who made our market a success. Through 15 markets we saw an average of of 200 shoppers each week buying the freshest tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, greens, garlic, onions, and berries, from farmers all growing within 30 miles of Hartford. At the GROW booth we had the last of our tomatoes for sale including green tomatoes...Here is what to do with them: -Heat to a boil a brine of about 1 cup water to 1/2 cup white vineger and 2 tbs salt (have enough brine to cover tomatoes) -Place tomatoes (about 2 cups worth) in glass jars or corning weara bowl w/lid -Add a few cloves of garlic, chunks of onion, and a a hot pepper, if you like -Add a tsp of dill seed (opitional) -Pour hot brine over tomatoes and other seasoniongs, cover and put in the frinde for a least a week for pickles to sour....Enjoy See you all at the market next season!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The Seed Season

This year we planted over 75 sunflowers in the garden. Aside from feeding the bees and birds we will dry and clean the seeds, eating some and saving some to plant next year.

sunflowers Posted by Picasa

Friday, September 02, 2005

Dont let the sweet smile fool ya!

And now Clifford.... The thing that I liked the most about the summer was our first farmers market. I liked it the most because I saw a whole lot of people coming to buy things from our stand and I liked that people were buying things from us. My biggest challenges this summer were trying to be a better friend to the other workers at the program and trying to keep my mouth closed while some one other than me was talking. One of the three things that I learned this summer was how to plant sunflowers where they would grow. The second thing that I learned was how to harvest tomatoes from our garden that are ready. The third thing that I learned this summer is how to be a better friend to the other workers at the program. The funniest thing that happened this summer was Shannon Raider, our boss, trying to cut the grass. She could not turn on the weed whacker.

naomi, with her FRESH friends

One of my favorite memories of the summer is when we went to visit FRESH, a group from New London. We met up with fresh and they showed us their garden. One of the gardens was real little, but the next one they showed us was much bigger than the first one. After we went to Ocean Beach and we went swimming. It was fun ,there was many people there like me, Ya-Ya, Theresa, Clifford, Angel, Clivens, Rickyon ,Donna and Judy ,Shanon,Laura and Fresh and also I met a little friend. The biggest challenge for me this summer was trying to not to get caught up in someone's mess but here on now that is still my challange. The part of work I like this summer was cooking. I like to cook so maybe one day I might even use one of the recipes. The one thing I like about the farmers markets is when you see most of the things you have grown and seeing people go away being happy with what they purchase.

goodbye blogger

Hey, this is your favorite Blogger! Ya-Ya. You guys have to wish me luck because I am a freshman at Sport & Medical Sciences Academy starting September the sixth. Anyways back to GROW... My favorite memory from this summer was my first day, because as you know I came a week late because of an unfortunate death in the family. I arrived an hour early and Shannon was in the garden. She was very surprised to see me because I wasn't sure when I could come back. If you didn't know... I was in Virginia burring my uncle. When the crew showed up Shannon introduced me as Ya Queera. Clifford then asked, “When is the girl who is out of town coming back?" That was very funny to me and Shannon because we knew it was me but apparently it wasn't clear to the crew that I was the person. This is my favorite memory because the crew was eager to meet me while I was gone! My biggest challenge this summer was learning its okay to be wrong sometimes. I am a real control freak and this summer being with a lot of other people every day helped me to understand that I'm not always right and that other peoples' opinion matter. The part of the work this that I personally liked the best this summer was sheet mulching. I like this because it was a new tool that I learned and I became good at it and just about everywhere in the garden you see sheet mulch I helped a lot and I am proud of my self! My favorite part about the farmers market is writing receipts. Like sheet mulching it is another tool I picked up this summer and I am great at it. Farmer Sam came and taught us how to write receipts. Even thought I came to the farmers market on the third market I still have been doing the receipts every Saturday that I'm there. Its' been real, talking to you guys this summer. That's All Folks...3...2...1!!!!! ya-ya Posted by Picasa

theresa & precious

One of my favorite memories in the garden was when this group call OPP came to our garden. They had made us a sign and they came to put it up in our garden. We also took pictures with them and the best part about it was the pictures. The biggest challenge I had in the garden was when a group came from Boston and another group came from New London. We had to sit down with the people they put us in a group with, we had to read a paper and it asked us to tell our whole name and tell what it meant. This was hard for me because I don’t like my name. To me the funniest thing that happened this summer was when I was painting. The paint got on my face and on my neck and I had to walk home like that and this boy thought I had got hit with a paint ball and I think that was funny. My favorite part of the farmers market is when I get to sit at the information table because when I sit at the information table I’m right next to the music and all you have to do is sell bread and count all the people that came to the market. theresa

The last time I come to the library.

My favorite memory of the summer was when the group went to see the "fresh group" in New London. I had a good time, we ate lunch then we played games. After that we went to see the other garden they have. All together they have two gardens. After that we all went to the beach then we said goodbye and went home. I think the biggest challenge for me this summer was geting up at 8:30 and coming on time everyday. My favorite part about the farmers market is selling the bread.This summer I learned three things. One was to be on time for work, how to grow corn and other crops and the last thing was learning how to be a better famer and have my own garden. Clivens Laurore.

Summer

Rickyon watering our broccoli. One of my best memories this summer was when the crew went to Holcomb and Shannon took us on a ride in the truck. I liked the part when we went for a ride on the truck for a tour and Shannon was going over the big bumps and the truck got stuck, that was funny. The biggest challenge was when we had to sheet mulch with the cardboard. We had to keep taking leaves from the back of the garden, we had to bring them to the spot like 50 times.The best job was picking the tomatoes with the whole crew. I like it because we throw the tomatoes that weren’t good. We threw them to the compost. The funniest thing that happened was at straight talk when people get their anger off their backs. Like the last straight talk when Clifford said some thing and every one burst out laughing. Rickyon smith

Thursday, September 01, 2005

A beautiful Day at Roses Berry Farm

Blueberries, blackberries, rasberries OH My! Posted by Picasa The weather was perfect for our last field trip of the year. With a view of Hartford off in the distance was walked among 30 year old pear trees, drooping apple trees, and picked berries galore! Riding around on the back of the truck past the fields Clivens softly shared, "If I lived out here I would just eat fruit all day, no meat, just fruits."

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Hi, My name is Ya Queera I am 14. Everyone calls me Ya-Ya! This is me holding one of our first watermelon. I really like this picture because I am in it, I actually sheet mulched the bed that this watermelon is planted on, and I LOVE WATERMELON!!! I am a freshman at SMSA (Sport & Medical Sciences Academy). Angel and Precious took this picture of me. As you can see I am in my pajamas because it was chilly this morning and I just woke up and came to GROW. Ya Queera A.K.A. Keera B.K.A. Ya-Ya That's all folks...3....2....1.... Our first watermelon! Posted by Picasa

Guess what? Weeding time!

Hey this is me Angel who been weeding since the program started I don't like weeding but I offer so that was my job for 45min I weeded the weeds that were growing between the bed of collard and chard. While we were weeding, Rickyon and I saw a rat. After everybody was done with their job except me then they started helping me weed. Then we all saw a red tail hawk.

shucking corn at Foodshare

Sorting corn at Foodshare Posted by Picasa Foodshare is a place that feeds the hungry. They give food to the people that need it very much. They load up trucks and they go to different places. The people who need the food come out with bags and pick up their own food. They get food to different places and some foods get donated from different organizations and farms. I think that Foodshare is really great for the community and the people that are hungry. I think that the people at Foodshare volunteer because they have nothing to and they want to use their time wisely and some just want to help those in need of food. I will probably do it next year again. –rickyon smith
Talking with David Yandow from Fowler Co. at the Regional Market Posted by Picasa

Taking a tour  Posted by Picasa

Look at those beautiful vegetables... Posted by Picasa

Ya-Ya's Input on the LSFM

What’s happening lately people? Me nothing, but exploring some new parts of the Laurel street Farmers Market! Did you miss me? It’s me the one and only, member of the Grow Hartford Youth Group, Ya-Ya and I am here to tell you about the LSFM website. This web site is very informative, but very dull! I learned a lot from it, but it was boring and it didn’t catch my attention. The mission of The Laurel Street Farmers Market is: To foster a community farmers market that attracts and reflects diversity and enthusiasm of a healthy Hartford by providing a diverse array of vegetables, herbs, and value-added products to fill Hartford's need for fresh, local, culturally diverse foods. To provide healthy food to educate and empower a healthy community. To provide local farmers, growers, and value-added producers with a direct marketing opportunity. To provide a community gathering place and forum for sharing arts and information. WOW! This is amazing and true, I know because I work at the market and we do exactly what the mission says. Not just the Grow Stand, but the rest of the farmers or gardeners too! The website gives a lot of helpful information to people that don’t have flyers or that don’t know about the only Saturday Farmers Market in Hartford. I think the website could be improved by adding more excitement. Like if we were to add some of the pictures we take at the market or some bright colors.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005


The crew looks on at a tray FULL of capped honey! How heavy is it? Posted by Picasa

Bee keeper Jeff Schultz conducted a great workshop on beekeeping forhte GROW crew at Holcomb Farm where his bees make honey for us to sell at the Laurel St. Farmers Market. Posted by Picasa

Thesesa demonstrates how to use the smoker to calm the bees Posted by Picasa

The day with Jeff Schulz

Hi my name is Precious and we went to Holcomb farm and we met up with Jeff Schulz. Jeff works with bees for a living, he handles them and makes the honey to sell. Jeff sells the honey, and we also brought some to sell at our farmers market on Laurel Street. Jeff used his materials to show us how he gets the honey out of the honeycombs. Me, Theresa, and Ya Queera tasted the wax that they make the combs out of. It smells like it would taste good but I’m telling you it does not. During the day Jeff had let me put on his bee suit. He said that usually he doesn’t wear the suit because it’s too hot and he said "would you want to sit in that suit for two or three hour in a 90° weather" . It was fun! Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Kid’s Day at The Laurel Street Farmers Market

The kid’s day at the market was fun. I got to paint children’s faces, and also they made seed necklaces .But most of the kids wanted to get their face painted not make a necklace. There were different tables. There was a lady who sold candy apples and popcorn. The lady with the exotic birds came with her kids. I have one of the bird’s feathers. I think that the kid’s day was a good day for the farmers market because it seem that since we had the kids day there were more kids coming then the usual days but over all the day came out to be one of the best days of the farmers market. There where a boy representing (OPP) junior art makers, he sold greeting cards. (OPP )also had made us a sign that said grow Hartford and they made it out with there own hands. By: Precious a.k.a Naomi Kids Day Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

When The Moon Hits Your Eye...

Posted by Picasa I think that a whole food is the food that you make at home because you don’t get it out of a can. And I think that processed food is the food you get from the store and from places like Wendy’s. I think the whole food is better then a processed because it tastes much better the processed foods. The pizza we made was nasty to me because I never made a home made pizza but to other people it was probably good. The extra work we did to make the pizza was fun. Last but not least, the food in the cans had a lot of things I couldn’t pronounce the name of. I don’t think that I would make home made pizza at home.

Whole Food Pizza

Fresh Pizza ingredients Posted by Picasa On Friday (aug.12) we cooked a pizza in the Underwood kitchen. When we were cooking the pizza in the morning; we had to harvest tomato and peppers. It was hard to tell if they were ready. They were big but they weren’t ready then we went to harvest chard and eggplant. I never had eggplant and chard on a pizza before. The jobs that we had in order to cook the pizza, many of us had to chop the tomato, some of us had to cut chard and eggplant. We work together to stir the pot of tomato sauce. The pizza tasted very good. But it didn’t taste better then the Tonys. The pizza was really fresh. The pizza was really good. I will try to make a pizza at home. rickyon smith

Ya-Ya's Big Debut!!!

Hi! My name is Ya Queera, but if you know me or my name is too hard call me Ya-Ya! On Saturday, August 13,2005, at our Farmers Market a group of children from The Upper Albany Neighborhood Collaborative was interviewing some of our Grow Hartford Crew Members because it was Kid’s Day at the Market. I, Ya-Ya, was one of the lucky members along with Angel L. and Clifford L. A girl named Kiara interviewed me. She was a little nervous, but she did an overall great job. They only asked me questions about the Laurel St. Farmers Market. One question in particular and I quote “ How long have you been working and preparing for the Farmers Market?” I replied with, “ I have been working with Grow Hartford since the second week in May, I had to start late because of a family emergency, but I have been working in the Farmers Market since June 9th!” They asked me three questions and none of them were hard at all because I know what I do and I am known to explain things very well. I didn’t find out a lot about their program, but from what I know I would have liked to joined it in my earlier years when I wanted to do a Broadcasting class at my old school, Edwin A. Gibson Danville, VA. To be truthful I have never watched the public TV stations, but I have passed by them occasionally. I don’t know if they are a good way to learn about the community because I have never watched them, but my grandmother puts a lot of their church programs on those channels, so maybe it is a good way to learn about your community! That’s all folks…3…2…1…

Personal Accountability

What does personal accountability mean? Personal accountability means a person who takes responsibility for their own action. When you are at work personal accountability means that if you did some thing that you were not supposed to do you own up to it and. I did that instead saying that it was not me. When I hold myself accountable for something I feel good about myself for doing that. I have never held myself accountable for some thing that I have done before this summer. Yes I like the standard of personal accountability because people will own up to what they do. by. Clifford Laurore

Values by Angel

A value is something you desire or admire. Where I come from our value is to always represent. Something personal that I value is my family and my money. One of our program values is to come on time and prepared. I agree with that value because we are going to get a violation if we don’t come prepared. It is important to be on time and prepared because it doesn't effect our work for the day. I think violations are bad because sometimes it gets you frustrated when you don’t want to but sometimes people deserve it.

A Successful Community Garden Tour!

The Watkinson Garden Posted by Picasa As part of Eat In Act Out Week the GROW Crew participated in a Community Garden Tour with The Knox Parks Foundation. Rachel Lindsay from Wesleyan University took these wonderful photos. Members of the community joined us to see three gardens and the GROW garden. After, we gathered in the shade to enjoy a snack prepared by the GROW youth. Fresh pesto, tomatillo salsa, and tomato cucumber salad made with ingredients from our garden were a hit. Even though the youth crew thought the pesto tasted like soap when we sampled it after we made it...They gobbeled it down after the tour when our other guests raved about it! Here is what Rickyon has to say about the day. - Shannon The garden tour was really interesting. We went to a lot of different places. I have not been to any other garden but the one that I work in. There were a lot of people there. When I went to the Watkinson garden people were saying that they have different varieties of fruits and vegetables. Many people thought that the Watkinson garden was really big. I thought that the other garden was really big. There were many people on the tour that I can’t remember their names. The people that were on the tour thought that the GROW Garden was really organized and had lots of vegetables. Many people said that is was great that people that work at GROW for 2 years had their own (garden)beds. ~Rickyon Smith

Tuesday, August 16, 2005


Touring the GROW garden Posted by Picasa

NIles Street in Bloom

The Niles Street Garden Posted by Picasa Hello, my name is YaQueera. On Thursday, August 4,2005, my group Grow Hartford, some of the Knox Park employees, some Hartford Food System employees, and a few people from the community went on a Community Garden Tour associated with Knox Park. - I think these gardens add more positive things about the community and make the community a better place. I think If we have more garden in Hartford people would stop think bad things about the community because I think gardens make some place look good. Yes I would garden if there were one near my house. I don’t know anyone who has a community garden but when I was in Haiti I had my own little garden I only had two things growing it was the corn and the beans. - clivens Laurore