Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, Ohio, USA Sunday, January 29, 2006 (forwarded by Bill Dawson)
CULTIVATING A COMMUNITY 2 by Robin Chenoweth MOUNT STERLING FARM City children discover wonders of place that supplies their food When Tom and Mary Lou Shaw offered their Mount Sterling farm and its vegetable garden as a field-trip destination for disadvantaged children, they didnt expect the first visit to begin so dismally. The couple watched kids and chaperons step off the bus from Columbus, all dolled up in Sunday clothes. They were late, tired, hot; they forgot their lunches," Mrs. Shaw recalled. The adults were hostile about it. They said they were going back before lunch." Then the kids inner-city dwellers all spied the Shaws miniature donkeys. A small commotion arose as they petted and photographed the animals. Mrs. Shaws whitehaired mother welcomed adults to cool off on her porch. Pizzas were served. All barriers were down," she said. Three summers ago, children from Head Start schools and the King Arts Center began visiting the 50-acre farm as part of the Greater Columbus Foodshed Project of Simply Living, which seeks to educate children about nutrition and gardening. A quarter-acre plot on the farm was planted for children to explore and pick. Vegetables that children cant identify sprout from the ground. Dirt is everywhere; strange smells mix in the air; and heirloom Dorking chickens race about the farmyard. The little ones say, Is this real grass? . . . and then run through it," Mr. Shaw said. Children are given cloth sacks for collecting berries, broccoli, brussels sprouts, bush beans, cabbage, chard, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, squash and tomatoes all to take home. Most are just blown away. They go into the garden almost like (theyre going after) Easter eggs. They cant believe it," Mr. Shaw said. They even pick green tomatoes because they get a little frantic." Older kids rake soil or dig root vegetables with shovels. Most have no idea where a potato even comes from," he said. So we go in the garden, and they see a tomato or dig up some potatoes. Thats the kind of thing we can share." Providing food for children to pick does more than just give them a handout, said Noreen Warnock, coordinator of the Foodshed Project. Food is something that connects us to our humanity," Warnock said. It represents community. . . . This is not just a field-trip destination. (The Shaws) are actually forging relationships with people in the city." Mrs. Shaw envisions the children dumping their bags of green tomatoes, potatoes and peppers onto a kitchen table at home. She hopes they talk to their parents about what they saw. If not parents, then grandparents. They remember, especially the ones from the South. They say, We used to plant collards. " Then maybe, she said, the children will conceive of planting a garden of their own. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
