Greetings from Park Place!
Mid July; already! And the garden is alive and producing! The following blog was written by AmeriCorps Summer VISTA, Austin Neely, who is new to the gardening world. It’s an exciting opportunity to work with young people who are interested in learning and helping other learn to Grow Their Own!
On Friday, I volunteered alongside local students at Vance Community garden. These students have worked with special needs students in the garden; helping them learn about not just gardening, but good work ethic and communication skills as well.
This was only my second trip out there, but I have already become fast friends with many of the students. We began our workday by weeding the beds and pathways. As we worked we would to talk one another; sharing funny stories and learning a little bit about one another. The topics ran from trips to the dentist to the amount of Vitamin A an average carrot has.
After we finished weeding we took a break and sat in the shade. We talked about our weeks and then went back to work harvesting. It was fun pulling the carrots and onions out of the ground; as well as collecting all the peas and peppers together. Everyone was pleased at amount we harvested. We also planted some more peas.
The garden as a whole is doing very well. The tomatoes looked great as well as the flowers’ blooms. The watermelons are beginning to come in and some are already beginning to look like little green bowling balls. It is very exciting to watch everything grow and begin to take shape!
Austin Neely, AmeriCorps Summer VISTA
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