Thursday, September 27, 2012

Kick-Off

The Green  LIONS Garden Group started their second year on Monday with some returning members and lots of new faces. We celebrated the first week of Fall by planting our Fall garden. Farmer John Wilson of New Earth Farm, http://www.newearthfarm.org/New_Earth_Farm/Welcome.html, came out again to volunteer his knowledge, time and help to plant our three garden beds with kale, cabbage, broccoli, tat soi, lettuces, radishes and kohlrabi.





















We have exciting plans for our group this year with lots of fun lessons, crafts and projects. We have an interesting line-up of speakers coming to teach and entertain the students. Our meeting agenda plans are posted on the right under GLGG Files to see what we have planned for the year.

We were once again awarded a grant from the Education Foundation, http://www.vbschools.com/volunteers/educ_found/index.asp, and thanks to their generosity, and the generosity of our school's PTA, and many helpful school and community volunteers we have plans to expand the garden with 3-4 more garden beds, edible bushes, fruit trees and much more. We are especially excited to learn we can incorporate some of our garden produce into the school cafeteria for more students to sample!

We are often asked how we decided to develop this program. This program was born from a group of like-minded parents who saw the importance of teaching students about the importance of taking care of their environment, and the benefits to themselves and the planet in supporting local growers and producers. Pam Warhurst, cofounder of Incredible Edible Todmorden, a local food partnership that encourages community engagement through local growing, gave an inspiring TED talk on their program and how to incorporate it on the levels of community, learning and business. She and her colleagues transformed their town with edible growing spaces in the most unlikely of places and unified the community.You can view this fascinating 13-minute TED talk here. http://www.ted.com/talks/pam_warhurst_how_we_can_eat_our_landscapes.html?quote=1818

Warhurst states that "the one unifying language that cuts across culture, age, and income and that helps people themselves see things differently, see spaces differently, think about resources differently, and interact differently...appears to be food...It's time for us to take personal responsibility and invest in more kindness to each other and the environment." She also proclaims "please let us say to every school, create a sense of purpose around the importance of the environment, local food and soil. Put that at the heart of your school culture and you will create a different generation."