Sunshine, Rain!

It has been an unbelieveable week and through all sorts of storms, winds, hail and sun damage from the prior part of the season, we continue to survive. It is a true testament to the challenges a small farm, or garden faces through its lifespan and how careful planning and maintenance really are in the sustainability of garden work.

This week we had an amazing garden group come through -Child Focus, 20 delightful youth, who I gave a little tour, showed the garden, taught about fruits, vegetables, and composting, and engaged in a lovely tomato picking session. They were all awarded the title of "junior farmer" at the end, and walked away with little bags, filled with "Tamara Tomato" coloring sheets and an additional sheet with 10 budget friendly and healthy tips and tricks for kids snacks for their parent to make at home.  They took away a little wooden toy airplane, and a stress ball to remind them of their tomato lesson all inside of UC Clermont College Bags.  Additionally, they had a "My Plate" page from myplate.gov, which they used in class, while we held another classroom lesson on fruits and vegetables and how many they should have per day.

Everyone learned that "FIVE A DAY" was the magic number as they colored in all sections of their plate and described which food item corresponded to which section of the plate.  After finishing the my plate lesson, we got down to business, the much awaited, "Gazpaaahhhcchooo-cooking show!".   All students were invited to participate as we made gazpacho from the items picked freshly from the garden.  Ingredients included were cherry tomatoes, of which each student placed two in the food processor, cucumber, green, red, and banana peppers, onion, jalepenos, which certain students enjoyed chopping and placing in the food processor olive oil (premeasured and salt and pepper, red wine vinegar, and a little (tomato)/spagetti sauce).  Everyone was delighted, some loved it some did not, but everyone was proud to have tasted something fresh from the garden which they made themselves. We took group pictures and everyone was very grateful for their day out at the garden!

Pictures from our experience are attached!.

Class Picture

Getting our boddies all shaken out and hands stretched well enough to be tomato pickin' ready!!!

Everyone holding hands walking onto the garden story-telling area for Farmer Ruchi to tell tales of the Community Garden!

Alex won the "question" so he got to hold Farmer Ruchi's hat and the tomatoes inside as we walked around.

Servin' up some gazpacho and bread with lunch, can't say that sounds bad after some hard garden work!

Our harvest for the day! Showing off our hard work. (Yes some are yellow but it was a learning and we will just let those ripen for a tad longer ...!) ;)

Big sharp knife for the teacher, small butter knife for the student. This is a cucumber from the garden picked just for the gazpacho! Yumm!

All of our ripe fresh gazpacho goodies. Fresh and Tasty!

Walking around the watermelon, cantaloupe areas, checking out how big they are getting! Children all amazed at the fruit still on the vines.

Showing everyone how different tomatoes have different shapes. Romas are oval, cherry are small and regular tomatoes are big and round. There are also some green tomatillos-that stay green!

Corbin Hill Farm; A Model to Emulate

This article of Dennis Derryck and his Corbin Hill Farm is a great example of something small that explodes almost overnight. It truly is admirable how he is making local produce available to low-income families, and now even entire communities. I believe that this model of a farm taking produce from local farmers and selling them to the community is something that can be replicated across the country, and even world-wide. It is necessary for our community to revert a little to the old ways, of eating locally grown produce and not consuming as much processed and packaged food. I would love if something like that was available in my hometown Lorain, Ohio. There isn't much farm land in this particular city, but in surrounding cities there are various farms that could benefit from the business of lower income communities in the area.

"Call of the Scenic River"

I want to introduce you to the film, “Call of the Scenic River”, produced by Tom Mayor, who graduated from Wright State.  A major part of this documentary focuses on the impacts that agriculture has on the waterways, and follows the many designated scenic rivers that we have in Ohio, where the Scenic River Program first started. 

From as far back as I can remember, I was always playing in the creeks and streams in my neighborhood.  From catching crawdads, fish, snakes, and minnows, to ice-skating, toy boat racing, tubing, and rope swinging, the water provided infinite recreation for my friends and me.   Now, when I go back to those streams, I’m lucky to even see a crawdad (crayfish) let alone catch one.  So much biodiversity in the creeks are lost due to agricultural run-off and new housing and commercial development.

I feel empowered when watching the film.  I am inspired when I see the people and organizations that are working to protect our waterways and watersheds.  Most people, however, are so busy with their personal lives and working to pay bills, that they are disconnected more and more from the natural world, its life and its rhythms — like the flow of the river.  In addition to the abundance of free organic fertilizer (carp) for community gardens that can be obtained from the Great Miami and Mad Rivers, there is also great potential from fishing to provide food for the Fairborn community if the rivers can revert back to their natural state.  “Call of the Scenic River” really speaks to me with the video and its information about Ohio’s creeks and rivers, because they are a reflection of how we treat the natural world, the land, the waterways, the air and living organisms.

~ Adam

"THOSE PEOPLE"

I started a facebook post voicing my opinion on my feelings regarding those who make policies:  I brought it here because I have too much to say and frankly its a focused topic that people don't seem to get unless they really have walked in the shoes of anyone impoverished.  Contributing to your church funds and helping the rich help other rich people go on camps doesn't "serve".  And the people who feel they were so disadvantaged as youth really truly don't compare to those living below the poverty levels as full families, of who I speak in this post.  It is not about feeling sorry for yourself and trying to put blame on systems and make everyone stop being "lazy".  It is trying to slowly create a process of empowerment and help people. Blaming people, becoming irritating, turning your head doesn't solve anything. Being part of the change and addressing the breaks does.

My post was this:
I don't believe in voting on those individuals who create policies who have never stepped foot in the day or led a life of a person who needs aid from the clinic/has faced a disability or needed to utilize government benefits. It is super easy to judge everyone as "those people" until you are one of them and have to maneuver around the system you put in place for them.

 " Having international friends, disabled parents getting different care or refused care than those who are wealthy Caucasian with regular insurance, seeing African american/Appalachian low-income populations  not being able to rise out of poverty and use pantries to provide daily sources of food for their kids simply because they can't maneuver the benefit system and others not being able to get education or jobs or health treatments and cycle back into having to use welfare and benefits is my angle of frustrating.  Its not handouts people WANT -they want jobs;  Its a process, people are sick and uneducated from this cycle and it was created.  Those who are sick are pushed aside into pockets and areas of town that people drive past and where all the signs go up for fast-food; targeting for all the poor business options driving it further. Furthermore these same people with the lack of proper education are not near any of the schools we want to send "our kids to" or put our businesses next to so the opportunities for education and jobs aren't there. Grocery stores won't open there so their choice of foods are from gas stations and corner stores and that leads to poor health.  And buses usually are the mode of transport-which many jobs find "unreliable".  Hand up and hand out is a very different thing. It takes generations and policy changes identifying individual issues in our currently racist system which is sustaining this group that its oppressing, not empowering people. Income/food level of benefit is simply allowing people to live at the poverty level not to sit around their entire life and do nothing. It is not a goal of people to do nothing it is a circumstance-. When welfare,snap, medicaid is abused by some that should not be confused for  taking it away from the many who genuinely NEED it and use it to pull themselves out of the systems that put them there. I volunteer non-stop and have for years and I get paid less than $5/hr. 25% of my salary goes to taxes. I fight for the rights of the poor because I live aside them on purpose. Its a very different painting looking from the inside out than the outside in. I have worked in healthcare when I had benefits and a normal job and that picture is also quite different when I look at patients as "those people".  Like I said live among those people some day and the picture is a very very different one. As much as I hate starting these discussions I feel they have merit because we are not anywhere near the dire lifestyle or ever have been -nothing we have can compare. No experience can make us identify-we all come back to our comfortable homes.  Once u life a life close to poverty, live that life and the lines for all the words you have defined so clearly in your mind get very blurred once you realize the families being supported the circumstances the food insecurities and situations presenting that individual in front of that office asking for that help.  Abuse and aid are two separate issues. Putting everyone into a homeless scenario by removing aid creates a very different set of problems. Everyone is entitled to their opinions I don't discount any, I just ask people to really live the life opposite the one they live the one of those they "serve" to see it from a differing vantage point.