Friday, June 18, 2010

The Point

Unbridled excitement. It’s the reason they sprint in a garden where running is not allowed. It’s the reason that, as I lead a group of third graders on a garden scavenger hunt, sharing juicy educational tidbits about lettuce and asparagus, their fingers are tapping, eyes darting and hearts pounding. The delight in which they revel at this moment in the Washington Youth Garden is the fruit of the seeds which were sown in classrooms this winter/spring throughout our Garden Science program.

Since we last spoke, the in-class segment of the program finished up with a grand finale of cooking a vegetable stirfy in the classroom (which was covered by NPR reporter Rebecca Sheir). Several weeks later, the Youth Garden staff was joined by a crew of UDC Master Gardener alums to construct raised bed gardens at our schools, into which our students planted their very own vegetable gardens. Finally, each class had the opportunity to come out to the Youth Garden for their very own day of fun in the sun, learning hands-on what we had been discussing all spring.

To recap, Garden Science is eight weeks of classroom lessons, on-site garden installations, and a final class trip to the Youth Garden at the Arboretum. Accordingly, and expectedly, after being constrained by classroom walls for 8 weeks, the students have energy and enthusiasm to let out.

The visit begins with a septi-stop scavenger hunt, visiting all of the garden hot spots - sorrel, compost, butterfly garden. It’s great. Along the way we stop and taste things and talk about concepts from the classroom component, sneaking in questions at every turn.

Next, there is the weeding portion, where we split the classes up into groups and get them jazzed up about gettin’ weeds. Each group goes to a separate part of the garden to remove weeds, during which the students quickly discover two things: first, there are many worms in the earth, second; worms are the coolest thing since beanie babies. We pick some weeds, run around with fistfuls of worm. There is some shrieking and a whole lot of smiles. Everybody wins.

Finally, we adjourn to the conference room Рa collection of purple picnic tables under a monster oak tree Рto cook a meal with vegetables from the garden. Often, the cooking demo will be led by a local chef, and among the repertoire from this past session were: saut̩ed spinach and garlic, mint tea, and asparagus. Lots of asparagus.

More often than not, the kids will eat the vegetables. More often than not, the kids will like the vegetables. More often than not, the kids will ask for more vegetables. More often than not, the kids will be smiling.

The cooking portion generally concludes the trip to the garden, and, sadly, finishes our Garden Science program. The nice thing, though, is that throughout the program, and particularly the trip to the garden, the students are energized. Enthusiastic. To see them get excited about vegetables after weeks of questionably lukewarm involvement is, in turn, exciting. Rewarding.

While the childrens’ enthusiasm is uplifting, I think it should not go unsaid that there were ample frustrations. There are the kids who are not paying attention during the lessons not because they are interested, but rather, the opposite. In these moments, when you are speaking to blank stares and backs of heads, the owners of which are clearly thinking about those animal-shaped bracelets that are all the rage these days, I found it easy to slip into a state of irritated questioning.

Why aren’t they engaged? Why am I not more interesting? Why isn’t every single one of them flabbergasted at the wonder and mystery of the compost bin? Is this worth it? Is it effective? Making an impact? Changing anything? Helping anyone?

Luckily, the story doesn’t end here. My spirits were lifted, qualms soothed and faith in humanity restored as a result of a conversation with one of our regular volunteers, Andy Clark. In expressing my concerns that I was a failure as an educator (in my extensive several weeks assuming such a role), he said to me, “…well, I think it is an integral aspect of education. Not every kid that comes through the garden is going to dream of becoming a farmer, just like not every kid is inspired to become a mathematicians from doing their times tables. But there will be a few... and if you can inspire just a few students, then I think you’ve done your job. Y’know……it’s all about passing the torch.”

It’s all about passing the torch. Profound words. True words, and, I think, a suitable way to describe the goals of the Garden Science program. After all, the program is aimed towards increasing or instigating exposure of our students to new ideas and ideals pertaining to food, nutrition and environmental stewardship. In other words, the goal of Garden Science, the goal of the Youth Garden, the goal of education is to inspire.

If inspiration is the name of the game, all we have to do to produce a subsequent generation of enlightened geniuses is to inspire. Simple…right?

Well then what does it take to inspire a group of third graders to be foodie locavorist fanatics, you ask? I’ll let you know when I figure that one out. But, I think it can be said that an unequivocal instigator is passion. One who is passionate is one who is likely to inspire. Take a look at two of the most prominent faces of the local/sustainable food movement: Joel Salatin and Will Allen. Both have strong voices, a magnificently lush trail of action in the wake of their work, and clearly love what they do. Why? Because they get excited. And I’d have to say this was my biggest lesson learned over the course of the Garden Science program – when you get excited they get excited.

It’s not just a one-way road, mind you, but rather a feedback loop. Not only does an educators’ excitement inspire the student, but a students’ excitement, in turn, inspires the educator. I have come to realize that this is why I am here, why the entire WYG staff is here – to inspire and be inspired. Our student’s are very likely not acutely aware of our effect on them, nor of theirs on us, but the seeds are there. Planted beneath the soft impressionable topsoil of their youthful existence.

This summer, hundreds, if not thousands of young people will come through the Washington Youth Garden for a variety of programming. We will work with them, play with them, teach them, and be taught by them. They will come and they will leave. We may not know immediately, perhaps not even for years to come, but a few out of those thousands, after a day of fun in the sun, will get on that school bus holding a torch.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Save the Date for Family Fun Day

On Saturday, July 24, the Washington Youth Garden is holding a summer gardening celebration. Enjoy some healthy snacks from the garden, meet our new honeybees, listen to live music, tour the garden, and see our new Nature Explore Classroom.



Join us anytime from 1pm to 4pm. Friends of all ages are welcome.



For details and directions, visit our website.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

A visit from the Secretary of Agriculture

The U.S. National Arboretum was excited to host Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack this spring. Students from the Washington Youth Garden's Garden Science classes at Center City Public Charter School Trinidad, along with students from nearby Brent Elementary, joined the Secretary in planting some trees and pepper plants.



The students and Secretary Vilsack also participated in activities celebrating healthy eating. We taste tested various herbs and different varieties of fresh salad greens. Promoting healthy eating habits, especially for children, is one of the Secretary's top priorities.



Secretary Vilsack commented, "Arbor Day is important not only because of the rich tradition of improving our communities by planting trees, but also because it highlights the connection between two of this Administration's top priorities - helping improve the environment and helping children grow healthier and stronger. The kids at the Arboretum today had the chance to see how getting outside and being a part of nature is fun, exciting, and good for their health, right here in the heart of Washington D.C."

Here's a picture of Secretary Vilsack with our year-round youth intern and aspiring culinary student, Jonathan Gliss.



Two Washington Redskin players also joined in on the celebration. To promote physical activity, they lead the students in running and passing drills. Wide Receiver Malcolm Kelly also showed off his gardening skills when we were planting peppers. He grew up working in the dirt on a farm in Texas and told the students how much of an impact that had on his life. We wish we had a Redskins player and former farmer on hand all the time to talk to our students about the importance of growing your own food and eating veggies!

Garden update: growth, growth, growth!


Hardy kiwis


Chris Turse, garden manager, tilling around the apple trees.


Happy brassicas


Climbing beans


Papaya in our new tropical section


The bees are loving our blooming perennial border

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Guest chefs: Poste Brasserie, Ed Bruske, and Tesia Love

Jeremy, a chef at Poste Modern Brasserie, cooks up some fresh vegetables from the garden with our Garden Science students. Volunteers from the restaurant join us every Tuesday at the youth garden. They are a huge help with our ever-increasing load of garden maintenance. And in turn, they get to learn about local food and the growing process.



Local healthy school food crusader Ed Bruske joined us for a cooking demonstration as well. Ed instructed the students in making wilted spinach, which they loved! Ed wrote about his visit and posted pictures on the Better DC School Food blog.



Local food blogger and healthy food advocate Tesia Love also came out to cook some garden vegetables for our Garden Science students. Tesia came out twice and made a couple of delicious dishes - pasta with veggies, a spinach dish, and mint tea. More pictures and Tesia' write up of the day are at her blog, Flavor Diva.

Strawberries and Salad Greens


The fantastic DC Farm to School Network put together a local food celebration called "Strawberries and Salad Greens". Schools across the District of Columbia were served fresh, locally-grown strawberries and salad greens in their school lunches. Educational materials like food miles posters and maps of where the strawberries and salad greens came from were displayed in the cafeteria.

The WYG participated by hosting a class from Center City Public Charter School, Capitol Hill campus. We harvested strawberries and greens from the youth garden with the students. Some students washed and cut the strawberries while others washed and spun dry the salad greens. Then we made our own salad dressing with some olive oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. We added some parmesan cheese and some onions from the garden - and, ta-da, a delicious strawberry salad!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010