In the Dirt

After months of chomping at the bit I finally got my hands in the dirt today. I volunteered for the afternoon at BK Farmyards' Youth Farm at the High School for Public Service here in Brooklyn. We literally broke ground today and it was both fun and inspiring. The idea is that over the next five years the growing space will expand from ¼ of an acre (this year) to a full acre that stretches in front of the school. The students are an integral part of the farm plan and the teachers are full of ideas for class integration. The two most interesting I heard today were that a history teacher wants to use part of the farm to grow plants from Mesopotamia so that students can have hands-on experience with ancient grains, and a health teacher who wants to grow medicinal herbs. For creative teachers, the tie-ins are really endless so there will be lots of opportunities for the school community to get involved. There is also a high public service hours requirement for the students at the school, which they can fulfill in part by working in the garden in their free time. The plan for this year is that school families (students and staff) will have an opportunity to buy CSA shares in the farm, so that they can enjoy the bounty of this new project as well.

Today we started building the farm's compost system and marked out the first appx. 1200 square foot planting area. We wrapped shipping pallets in chicken wire for the compost and dug out the walkways between the planting beds so that they can be filled in with wood chips. Within the first hour, with the beds marked out, it was already possible to envision what it will look like with plants growing in the black earth. There were about 20 people there altogether. Some were students and teachers at the high school, some work for BK Farmyards, and others, like me, just interested volunteers eager to lend a hand and learn more about growing things in the process. It was a nice community feeling and Bee Ayers, one of the founders of BK Farmyards, lead warm up/icebreaker that helped set the tone of community and collegiality. Happily no one was expected to know how to do anything and we all felt comfortable to ask questions- I think it's going to be a great learning experience and I'm planning to become a regular at their Saturday workdays. You can check out what else is happening with BK Farmyards here including a really yummy looking fundraiser dinner on April 11!