Emerald City–Some Milestones

This is why we need gardens in the inner city!

Our Emerald City Green Entrepreneurs Training is going strong—here’s some highlights of our first three weeks.

We started by asking, “What are the problems in your community?  Who would you have to be to solve them?  What kind if superheroes would we need, and who are our role models?”  General agreement—grandmothers are the s/heroes!

We learned to make soil mix and started a hundred collards for community gardens.  This crew are hard workers, and they take pride in what they do!

Making soil mix and starting seeds.

We learned to take stem cuttings and do root divisions, and started fifty perennials and fifty comfrey plants!

Jaquez really liked the lavender and redbud!

The nutrition aspect—that’s still a challenge.  But on one memorable day, even the guys actually ate some salad!

Diced chicken and ranch dressing does the trick!

And we’ve had some very sweet moments—like finding the first butterfly of the spring!

What’s working?  Engaging young people in the issues that truly affect their lives, and crediting them with the intelligence and the potential power to address them.

What still needs work?  Changing habits and life styles is a long process.  They can read the label with all the chemicals in the soda, but will still choose it over the apple juice.  But at least they’ll give the juice a try—especially if we blend it up in a smoothie!

Each day, we begin by setting our goals for the day, and end by reviewing them.  Our goals for this program are to expand, as we learn more and more about what works.  For that, we need your help.  We’re hoping to raise another $5000 in the next month, to continue this program.  And we would like to raise $20,000 to expand it and double the hours and students over the summer.

If you can help, with a tax-deductible contribution in any amount, we would be so grateful!  Donate online at our Earth Activist Training website, and may you, too, find your butterfly!