We harvested kale, kohlrabi, cabbage, arugula, a carrot, turnips and beets.

Here are some happy volunteers showing off the turnips!

This morning I took over 106 pounds of produce to Miriam’s Kitchen!!!

Today we also put in our order for seedlings from Three Part Harmony Farm and tilled to prepare!

We are hoping to incorporate more Food Justice Alliance events into the blog… get excited for more on FJA!

The cover crop is a mix of winter peas, rye, vetch, and clover.

And here are some photos of the vegetables that are keeping the cover crop company.

Cabbage:

Kohlrabi:

Chard:Turnips:
Kale:

Thyme:

To prepare for a cold winter, we also hung our “irrigation system” up along the back wall. This allows the water to drain so that it doesn’t freeze and crack the pipes.

Before the spring, we intend to do some general garden clean-up, beautify our community space, install a small fence, put in some informational signage, and plan for the spring.

See you soon!

Julia brings over the wheel barrow of 128 pounds of delicious produce.

In addition to our normal kale, herbs, cucumbers, and zucchini, we’ve recently starting harvesting a few new, exiting things…

Carrots!

beautiful carrots

These carrots grow in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Looks like these didn’t want to be separated…

friends forever

We’ve also started harvesting a wonderful assortment of melons including some massive watermelons!

Here are our carrots and some melons in Miriam’s Kitchen as some volunteers get ready to prepare the food.

Yum!

The group, composed of volunteers of all ages, came to us via the William Penn House. We were their first stop on a community service tour focusing on projects revolving around social and environmental justice. The GroW Garden was the perfect place for them to get started.

Our volunteers not only managed to weed the ENTIRE garden (a monster task in itself),they harvested okra, tomatoes, thyme, and beans. Before they left, they also planted 3 new beds: beans, chard, and kohlrabi.

Overall, their efforts were an immense success! We’ve never seen the compost pile so tall!

Thank you!

Arriving at the student run GROW Garden in the urban setting of Washington D.C., I was taken aback by the compact size of the garden and its lack of color. In my head, I had told myself that I had no expectations. If that were true, then how could I feel disappointed? I suppose I had expected a true botanical garden, sprawling out over an entire street block. Now I wondered where I had gotten that idea, seeing as how Joe made it clear from the beginning that it was only a small, student-run, community garden.

Silently I scolded myself for letting my mind run astray. This garden still had its charm. Unexpected as it was, it still had a purpose worth understanding.

Homeless people. Haley, one of two summer interns who were helping to run the garden, was there to explain this to me. Haley is a rising sophomore at George Washington University, who voluntarily spends every Saturday morning at the GROW garden pulling veggies for the needy. The vegetables and herbs harvested from the tiny side street garden are donated to a church down the street, Miriam’s, which holds a nightly food shuttle. The unique thing about Miriam’s is that it offers only fresh, non-canned foods to its “customers”. It is able to thrive off of donations from the GROW Garden as well as from the President’s garden. I have a home. And a family who loves me. I eat canned vegetables. Apparently, beggars can be choosers.

Although I was content to simply listen to Haley talk about the garden, we were asked to help. I will be the first to admit that I am not usually considered an outdoorsy girl. I took on the task of pulling weeds from the shallow dips between the raised beds of plants. Refusing to sit in the dirt, I squatted and began to daintily tug at a weed. Ten minutes later, success was met. The weed had been loosened. After an additional five minutes of struggling, frustration took over. Shoving my hands into the grim I yanked the weed out. As Haley approached, I held up the weed and flashed her a victorious smile. She then informed me that the place I had chosen needed the weeds to keep the beds in place. Mistake number one. Getting up, I examined my nails, which were now stuffed with particles of dirt and caked in green and brown specs. Finding another bed of weeds, I squatted once again. At this point my nails were beyond repair so I decided just to go for. Ignoring the box of gloves and shovels beside me, I ripped into the ground with my bare hands. Yet before I could get a good grasp on the stubborn root, Joe appeared. He informed me that that was corn, and did not need to be pulled out. I nearly gave up. Standing up, I felt my back crack and my knees squeak. Should we have stretched before this? Temporarily forgetting the fact that my hands were caked in Earth, I went to scratch an itch on my head. Instead of feeling the soft touch of my hair, I left the slick, squishy skin of a worm. I threw it back in the dirt; dry heaving as I whipped my head around in paranoia, shaking off an imaginary fleet of bugs.

Before going to the GROW garden I would have said that gardening was not for me. Now that I have actual gardening experience, I can still say it is not for me. Only now I can say it with confidence. And I can also say that while gardening may never become my favorite pass time, I would never say that it is a waste of time.

The GROW Community Garden was headed by the Food Justice Alliance at GWU about five years ago to provide a healthy food alternative for themselves and the greater community.

This morning I went to the GROW Garden to learn more and also get a hands-on experience by helping out. Once there I met up with Haley, a rising Sophomore at GWU and also a hired intern with the Food Justice Alliance.  She started by giving me a tour of the garden.  They rotate the crops each year so that the soil can be used as much as possible but not be worn out of nutrients.

Last year, the garden team applied for and received a grant for $21,000 which has helped them substantially seeing that GWU does not provide them with any financial support. This grant money has helped to improve the plant beds and purchase a new shed, composter, worm farm and tools.  Only half of the provided grant money has been used thus far and the other half will be used in the coming years to maintain stability.

Over the past few years the garden has flourished and supported the local community.  Instead of the students having to go to local farmers for the freshest produce, they can get it from the GROW Garden.  In addition, the majority of the products from the garden go to the soup kitchen, Mariam’s Kitchen, a few blocks away.  This soup kitchen feeds most of the surrounding “chronic” homeless, those that have been homeless for more than a year.

Once I learned about the garden and it’s history, I helped by pulling weeds around the Basil and Pumpkin rows.  I, because I am a man, did not wear gloves and as a result I got my hands, quite literally, dirty.  Most people think of weeding as a chore or, coming straight from my childhood, a punishment; yet it is a surprisingly effective mode of stress relief and overall relaxation.  You do not have to think about pulling the weeds (as long as you get the roots out, of course) and so your mind has the ability to de-clutter.

After weeding, I harvested kale leaves which are much like lettuce except you pull the leaves off individually.  Because of the lack of wholesome breakfast in my stomach, I found myself trying the kale and was delighted with the taste: sort of a blend between lettuce and broccoli.  Besides kale, I also tasted ripe cherry tomatoes right off the plant.  The experience of eating food right off the plant is like none other, it is impossible to explain the pureness and freshness unless speaking to someone who has done the same.

If you live in the city then you likely do not have many chances to get your hands dirty in a garden and so when you get a chance I highly suggest doing so.  Community gardens, especially those led my students, can teach you much and also benefit the greater local community.

A few weeks ago, we stumbled upon this vegetable growing on some vines. We were quite perplexed, first believing that a melon plant had somehow traveled to the opposite end of the garden. After some research and the consulting of Chef John at Miriam’s Kitchen, we learned that this was no melon. But before we give the secret away, you should take a guess.

Could it be a cucumber? Not even the cucumber is sure!

……….

……….

……….

If you guessed “cucumber”.. Congrats! You are correct!

This mysterious orange orb is an Indian cucumber called the Dosakai and very rare in the States. With its sweet and tangy taste, it is traditionally used to complement various Indian dishes like Sambar and Dal or as a component of chutney.

Check out this video to learn how to pickle a dosakai!

Pretty cool!

Don’t forget to sign up to volunteer by contacting us at foodjusticealliance@gmail.com!

Thank you!

Volunteers donate food to Miriam’s Kitchen.

Volunteers from the GW and Foggy Bottom community help harvest peppers.

Kale, Chard, Hot Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Lettuce, Zucchini, Squash, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Dill, Sage, and (for the first time this season!) Bush Beans!

First harvest of Bush Beans this season!

Massive zucchini

Sweet peppers

One of the highlights this week was our delicious cherry tomatoes straight off the vine…yummy!

Tomatoes!

Emma, a member of GW’s Food Justice Alliance, shows off the tomatoes she helped plant.

yummy tomatoes!

After we harvested over 40 pounds of food, we walked over to Miriam’s Kitchen to drop off the produce. Miriam’s will use the food to feed over 200 chronically homeless people over the next couple of days.

Some of the harvest: beets, herbs, and peppers

Volunteers drop off produce at Miriam’s Kitchen.

John, a chef at Miriam’s sorts out the new produce.

We love our volunteers!

funny cucumber mustache

Mary, a regular volunteer and member of the Foggy Bottom community smiles for the camera!

“The rising cost of grains like wheat, corn and rise has skyrocketed in less than a year. Rice, the staple food for 3 billion people, has tripled in cost in the last 18 months. If immediate needs are not met, and if resources and policies supporting increased agricultural production are not put in place soon, hunger across the globe could happen soon rather than latter.!

We must find immediate and long-term solutions so that more prices increases are averted. A first step is making sure that emergency help is provided in the U.S. 2008 Supplemental Appropriations bill and that money is also set aside for development programs to avert future food emergencies. Please take action today!
Tell a friend Get your clubs, classmates to reach the goal: 10,000 signatures”

Care 2 Petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

Lets get large summer organic gardens growing. Kids help prepare the soil and grow extra to share with a less fortunate neighbor or friend. You can also can some for the fall, learn what foods can be dehydrated and put those away to help cut food costs for the winter. Kids encourage your school to start a garden as well.

If you need ideas on any aspect of gardening let me know.

We’ll post some contacts on the web and in your area.

- Mother Nature