Friday, August 12, 2016

An Urban 'Food Desert' Bears Fruit- Part 1 of 2

This past year...


                                 ...my daughter, Hayden, worked for AmeriCorps...



                       ...as a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) volunteer.



                               Her job was to support the Erie, PA public schools...



                                                       ...through grant writing...



                                                          ...gardening help... 



                                          ...and direct interaction with students... 



                               ...on curriculum topics like the conservation of water...

                                           ...(including the use of rain barrels)...



                                    ...composting and responsible waste disposal...

                                            ...(including tours of a local dump).



                                      To make their gardens even more fun to visit...



                                          ...a number of high school art students...
                                
                       



                                       ...created site-specific ceramic birdhouses.




                         I realize that these are mostly photos of flowers, not food...



                                                 ...but my daughter tells me...



                   ...that the children are often so charmed by their miniature veggies...



                   ...that they pick and eat them before they can ever reach maturity!







                        Next time: photos of an extraordinary community garden...

                                                ...run by dedicated volunteers...



      ...which produces several thousand pounds of vegetables and fruit per year...



                              ...in support of an Erie soup kitchen and food pantry.

3 comments:

Terriea Kwong said...

Hayden's work is so interesting and colorful. If that's my job I'm in the heaven with the many species of plants for my experiments.

Rachel said...

What a lovely set of photos. Very young vegetables are especially trendy right now!

Heather Woollove said...

Terriea- Yes...I can see you in a natural work setting!!
Rachel- Oh, here, too!! (Yum!)