At the Neighborhood Farm Initiative, we’re planting seeds. Today it was tomatoes, eggplant, seven varieties of peppers. The first collard leaves are already round and reaching toward the sun.
We’re also planting seeds of a different kind: we’re teaching people to grow food. Starting in April, Program Director Bea Trickett will lead a series of workshops that will take DC residents from preparing soil to pruning tomatoes. Each participant tends her own plot at our site near Fort Totten and takes home the fruits – and vegetables – of his labor.
Our neighbors tend the rest of NFI’s land. The space is open to everyone and it’s volunteers who make it a working farm. Yesterday we cleaned out our shed: 15 trowels, 29 pairs of gloves, rolls and rolls of drip line, 7 shovels. They’re ready for use.
Soon the collards, plus kale, lettuce, Swiss chard and more, will be ready for eating. Right now, we’re raising money to buy the truck that will make our fledgling farm work, and hoping you’ll help out by coming out to our Barn Dance Fundraiser next Saturday at St. Stephens Church. More details here.
We’re hosting volunteer workdays each Saturday and one weekday evening each week. This weekend we’re turning compost and cleaning out last year’s detritus: come by from 9-1 to get your hands dirty.
For me, weeding a bed or digging a trench is fulfilling not only because I can see I’ve made a difference, but because I know that people growing their own food – particularly in the city – is connected to the biggest issues we’re facing: poverty, climate change, health care reform, to name a few.
In the face of those challenges, our acts are small, like the first true leaves of collard, but they’re growing and growing. I hope you’ll join us.
Email neighborhoodfarm@gmail.com to get involved.
