BAMBOO

Hello Everybody!

We have had an amazing journey through the Peace Patch! It seems like one project leads into another to help us expand and beautify our Gardens! We came across a yard filled with bamboo, half of which were dead...and waiting for us to come and harvest it! So we got to cut down giant bamboo shoots that were entangled in healthy shoots. As one chopped, a team of two or more would yank them out of the bunch. Less than half way through I was dripping in sweat but I didn't mind it. You should have seen how many shoots there were and the energy from everyone working, it was amazing! Now we have plenty of bamboo to construct edges and borders along our garden beds. Professor Kip Curtis and a few students have become masters at bamboo art! We love that we can recycle natural material and use it in our gardens!

Robin Gipson 

Peace within Nature

Loads of Bamboo

Have you seen our new Truck we had donated to the Edible Peace Patch?????

Professor Kip Curtis 

Our Final Garden Day..For Now!

Hi All and Good Evening!






Today was sadly our last day in the garden.  The semester is quickly coming to a close and that means we had to say goodbye to the Sanderlin garden and also to our classes.  Lia and I showed up at the garden and did our routine walk around.  It is still so fascinating to see all the new beauty that the garden has to offer every week.  Green is exploding in every single bed.  The Sanderlin garden has flourished in such an amazing way.  To think that this was the same garden that we started on in February is almost unbelievable.  Some things that I specifically noticed today were the sizes of the eggplants and the peppers.  They have gotten massive!  Also,  the tomatoes are beginning to take great size.  The Kale has grown to be quite bountiful.  So much has been grown in this short amount of time.

Our second grade class made their way out in the garden like any other day.  Today was a different day that consisted of no lesson.  Instead, we just talked about the upcoming harvest festival and all the food that is going to be prepared for the kids.  They got so excited! It was awesome to see them want to be so involved in this project.  They take so much pride in this garden and that is the most rewarding thing.    We did our last walk around the garden with them and I could feel the same excitement that has been prevalent all semester.  The kids insisted on weeding,  so we got down and dirty and weeded most of the garden.  We ended the class with catching lady bugs, since they seemed to be plentiful today.  We said our last goodbyes and shared hugs.  It was a lovely day.

This semester has really changed my views towards gardening and kids.  It is so wonderful to see the love the kids have for this garden and I share this love with them.  The age gap doesn't seem to matter when we are all laughing about the same green things that are growing.  I am inspired in many ways to come back and be a part of the Peace Patch next semester.  I also want to try to get involved in something like this where I am from!  It has been a great time.




Until next semester,

Sally :)

So Sad to Say Goodbye

Our Second home and food to fuel for our healthy bodies!!

       Today was our last visit to the Sanderlin Garden....it sure was sad! I did not realize how attached I was going to get to these kids at the beginning of the semester. Here I was thinking how much the kids are going to learn and love coming out to the garden and that is exactly what happened but for me as well.At the beginning of the semester when I asked them questions about plants it was new to them and now they all shout out the answers. It means so much to me to know that I have actually made an impact in their lives. Each child that comes out to the garden has touched my heart in one way or another.From the moments that they reach out to hold my hand during our garden walks to the moments when they look up at me with a puzzled look on their face as to how it is possible the seed they planted grew into a magnificent plant. They all tug at my heart and it has only been a single semester. Even though they can be a handful when they are all excited in a big group each of them are sweet and special in their own individual ways. To think I didn't have much of an interest in teaching elementary school children or any age group at all. These four elementary schools have significantly altered my plans for the future, I can only hope I have altered theirs. 

The Boys excited to try a fresh green bean

Checking to see how our cucumbers are doing

Community Growing.

Rather than a typical garden update, I would like to share with you all the amazing morning that I had today at Sanderlin. I've been sick the past few weeks and apparently strayed out of the loop, this became apparent when I was the only one to show up for our shift today, the only one to show up to school at all! The kids had no classes today and Sanderlin was a complete ghost town. I figured I may as well water, and as I was working I noticed the ridiculous amount of vegetables growing- we have sweet peppers galore, cucumbers, squash, greens, and will soon have a giant crop of tomatoes and bell peppers. But I wasn't the only one to notice. It took me a while to realize I was being watched, but I finally saw the small boy peering in from the other side of the fence. He asked me what I was doing, so I explained and then asked him if him and his family would like some vegetables, with that, he sprinted away... Just like that, I thought maybe I had scarred him and he was taking to heart all the 'stranger danger' lessons he's had, but he was gone. I felt pretty bad, but the plants still looked thirsty so I carried on my duties. Twenty minutes later though and the boy was back with his Grandparents. We chatted about the garden, and the weather, and when I once again offered some of my harvest, they told me they would love some, but only if I were to share it with them! I agreed and we made the trek across the road to their small home. We made lemonade, cut up some cucumbers and settled down on their small back patio. I shared with them all about the Peace Patch Project, and it's future goals, they also pressed me to talk about myself and my personal goals which led to the most incredible discussion of environmental and food justice that i've ever been lucky enough to be apart of. The couple asked me a lot of tough questions, and I did my best to answer them, though I learned more from them than I could ever teach in return. They made their grandson sit and listen to me talk about moving from Michigan to Florida for college, and they expressed such gratitude to me, just because I was taking the initiative to further my learning – they explained that neither of them could afford college and so it was their goal for their grandchildren to go, “I'll sell this house in a heartbeat” the man shouted, “as long as my boy can get the education he deserves!” They told me how much they love living across the road from such a 'beautiful experience' and asked me to thank everyone involved in the program. I spent about an hour this morning talking and enjoying the sun with this wonderful family whom I believe i'd never have gotten to meet if I hadn't shown up to Sanderlin today. I feel so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to share our garden with them, and to have learned about their lives in return. They asked not to be named or photographed, but this elderly couple, and their adorable grandson, turned the tables and taught me a lesson this week. As I was leaving their home, I invited them to the Harvest Fest, and attempted to leave the rest of the veggies with them, but they refused, and only accepted half! I'm so proud that the Peace Patch is working with the students from the school, but that it is bringing the community together as well, the family said they would try to make it to the Harvest Fest and wished me on my way, but as I left, the old man slipped me a piece of paper. I leave you as they left me, with a quote/note ; “Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes.” Thank you for your work, because of you and your friends (You guys!) there is hope for my grandson and his children's children. God bless, and keep growing. Never lose your sunshine! -H

Wishing you all a wonderful monday, just keep growing!

Liz

Bug Hunt!

Todays lesson was all about insects, generally a fan favorite amongst the kids, today was no exception. At the beginning of the lesson we sat all the kids down and went over the different types of insects, and their garden niches, and basic anatomy. After reflecting on all that bugs do in the garden, it was time to go see them in their natural habitats. So the kids begin a great, and often funny hunt for bugs. Make sure you are ready to find some cockroaches if you pick up a log! Commonly found insects included roly polys, butterflies, moths, bees, cockroaches, beetles, worms, ants, lady bugs and spiders. 

(These young scientist found a nest of roly polys)

(Cockroach and its eggs, a big hit with the students)

The Sanderlin garden is absolutely bursting with fresh produce that is close if not ready to be picked and eaten, a task that our kids excel at. Some cucumbers, banana peppers, and sweet potatoes were harvested by some of our kids to either eat as a snack, or to take home and share with their parents. With the harvest festival coming up, soon it will be time to harvest most everything and begin to look towards next semester garden. In the picture below you will see a bunch of mescaline greens that are hanging up to dry, so we can get their seeds to plant in the fall. The harvest festival is May 8th at the Enoch Davis Center, I hope to see you all there!

Derek

Garbanzo Brains

It was a beautiful and sunny day today in the Sanderlin Peace Patch, and we had a full shift of 3 back-to-back classes with just enough time left at the end to water the garden.  With the kindergarteners today we discussed the importance of sunlight to plants. Most of the kids recognized the essential function of the sun in providing light energy for the plant to turn into food, but wouldn’t really sit still long enough to go into any sort of depth. We promptly headed into the garden to show them the way in which plants use different mechanisms to absorb the most sunlight. The kids were pretty amazed when we explained to them how sunflowers follow the sun as it moves in the sky, which is always a rewarding feeling. 

When the first graders came in we switched over the lesson to the life cycle of a bean plant. After going through the different stages and showing the kids pictures, we went into the garden to look at the yellow bean and garbanzo bean plants. As I opened one of the garbanzo pods and showed them the bean inside, the first thing out of Myle’s mouth was “Ahhh it looks like a brain!”

So garbanzo beans were called garbanzo brains for the remainder of the session, which was perfectly fine with me.

Myles holding a garbanzo brain

           

Something about these gardens has made the time fly right before my eyes. I feel like I just started in this new teaching role, and now we only have a short two weeks left with these kids. Though there have been times where I have felt frustrated or overwhelmed by chaos, I don’t think I wouldn’t have gotten the same meaning out of this experience without those moments. It has been those hectic, stressful times that have taught me the most and have made me laugh the hardest, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

  

Colby

Sunshine is Here for Good!

As the past blog said, the sun was out and shining all week. That was perfect for our lesson because the lesson plan was on sunshine and how plants used it. As our second grade classes came out they knew all about how plants need sun and they even knew about photosynthesis. Our discussion before we went into the garden was mainly them telling us what they already knew. When we went into the garden the class walked around telling which plants needed more sun light depending on their leaf size.

(our first class eating the lettuce and holding out their hands representing how plants would take in sunlight)

(our second class showing the lettuce that they were about to taste)

As you can see from the pictures both of the classes found the bed of lettuce. They were telling me how the lettuce clearly needed lots of energy from the sun and that is why the leafs were so big. Most of the kids loved the lettuce and came back for seconds and thirds. I don't know if anyone remembers my friend Grub I talked about earlier in the semester, but he is in there with a piece of lettuce in his mouth! He told me that he was being risky today by trying the vegetable and it honestly made my day! I talked about earlier how all I wanted to do was for him to eat a vegetable and he did. He ate the whole leaf too. 

(Some kids checking out the squash) 

(cucumber and squash that I harvested) 

- Dani