The turnout was made even more unpredictable by the fact that, due to the season nearing its end, we needed to do the trip soon. As in second-day-of-Open-Gym soon.
So the week before, we tried to get permission slips to some of the kids at school, tell parents and kids about it when we saw them and finally on Monday, beg kids to take them from Open Gym. I had low expectations and so when one Wednesday, we had five kids heading out the door with us from the Gym at 4pm, I was satisfied. Even more so when Derrick walked in with his son and daughter, ready to follow us down for the tour.
I couldn't have felt more elated about the experience. All the way there, my car was gabbing about their own adventures on dairy farms and I inquired about favorite fruits and veggies. Lou took a second car and followed behind for the quick 5-minute jaunt down the road. There had been a slight lapse in communication of timing so we actually had to wait for Gretchen to arrive but the kids were kept occupied by my camera, taking turns snapping photos. When Gretchen came up to the table with a big box and a bag of apples, they immediately unleashed questions. "What's in the box?? Are we going to eat apples? You have bees! Can we go see them??" Gretchen patiently filtered the inquisition and when there was a lull I asked "So, should we see what Gretchen has in store for us in the garden and ask some more question later?" Of course.
When the gates opened, the kids ran ahead, shouting out the names as they identified crops that captured their attention. Of course, all the leafy greens were "lettuce" but as we got more into the rows, they began to ask about the crops they didn't know, tasting fennel and dill and even nasturtium flowers. Gretchen let them harvest just about everything from carrots and potatoes to even a few peppers and Cukes.
The most excitement of course, came from the tasting and the hands-on, but Gretchen did show them her extensive seed library and I tried to rally their attention when she explained the cycle of Broccoli, emphasizing how one plant could keep itself going, first growing from Broccoli to flower and then producing seeds to plant for more Broccoli. They were also fairly awed when Gretchen shared that she put in over 50 hours of work every week and seemed to grasp how much she could feed herself from her own backyard. "you still have to go to the store for meat, right?"
"I actually go to another farmer for my meat" she explained as we gushed how cool a trade economy was. Her patience and flexibility with the hour-and-a-half trip was perfect. The younger ones got their simple "can we eat this" questions answered while Lydia and us adults had time to ask her more involved questions. At one point, Autumn exclaimed "this farm is huge! This is the most amazing farm ever!" Derrick turned to me with a grin "That. Was. So. Cool" he mouthed.
It was all. So. Cool.
We had a hard time rallying them up to go but eventually made it to the front where they got to take turns with the hose, rinsing off their bounty and getting it into little take-home bags. We sliced open some apples, with honey for dipping and I explained the Jewish New Year. Back to Open Gym in time for their snack, we did the same there, and "K" offered to slice up his Cuke for the whole bunch. As Derrick delivered his third huge "thank you", I knew it was deserved. The trip had been a surprising success.
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I made a little write up for The Journal as well:
The Packwood Open Gym kicked off with a great first week this
year! On Wednesday the 24th, AmeriCorps members Lou Giller and Melissa Meiller
took a group of kids for a portion of the afternoon and ventured out to Sweet
Dirt Farm where Gretchen Fritsch gave a generous sampling of her garden bounty
and taught the kids a little bit about the hard work involved in farming and
the wonders of having a grocer in your backyard! The kids were loaded with
questions and excitement. “This place is huge! This is the most amazing
farm ever!” exclaimed Autumn. The trip ended with a sweet
snack of apples and honey and thank you’s. Each kid left with a fresh bag of garden
goodies, big smiles on their faces and hopefully some new inspiration for
becoming future gardeners themselves!
The field trip was an
introduction to what will hopefully be a string of events familiarizing the
community with gardening and the Packwood Community Garden which was installed
last year at the Cowlitz Ball Park off of Skate Creek road. The next
anticipated event is planned to feature some fresh cooked dishes from Gretchen
and other gardeners that attendees will be able to enjoy while learning about
some of the projects and ways to get involved in the garden. For more
information, please e-mail melissa.meiller@aol.com or call 734-904-5292.
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