Vision

Our visions was that the youth in my community become stewards of our agricultural land by gaining knowledge and skills of sustainable farming practice. That this hands-on, collaborative, charitable project forges a bond both within my group of learners and between them and the wider community.

Action

We take part in weekly lessons and practical work at the Community Farm School and learn about sustainable farming techniques and why they matter. Topics include: bees life-cycles, bee varieties and pollination, worm life-cycles, worm varieties and worm composting, fast and slow (hot and cold) composting, understanding seed packets: plant families, their needs and benefits and how to plan for successive harvests. Activities have included making and installing a home for mason bees, creating a worm-composter from items found at home, turning over compost, top-dressing beds, planting seeds in trays, transplanting, weeding, watering, thinning, building new beds and installing row covers. Food grown is donated to the local hospital, school food program and homeless shelter. It is also distributed in CSA style to financially-disadvantaged families, and sold by students at a road-side veggie stand.

Reflection & Celebration

We will continue learning and contributing at the Farm School for 2 hours a week until the end of June (and beyond, most likely!) The students are already reflecting and celebrating though. They love contributing and getting their hands dirty. They look forward to our time on the farm all week. The farm manager encourages them to taste what is growing and to take home extra seedlings. We will culminate the project with a feast from our labours.