the Garden

Hey there in the second week, this is Brenna, and I just finished watching "The Garden." The documentary followed a group of South Central farmers in LA fighting to keep garden property given to them by the city, which was then abruptly sold without public announcement to a private owner. The farmers were told they would be evicted in a short amount of time. It was disheartening to watch, in that the group rallied a lot of community and public support and ended up raising 16.2 million dollars in order to buy the land from a private owner, who in the end, refused to sell it to them, on the grounds of dislike for their methods/politics. The gardens were used by the people to grow food to feed themselves and their families. It saddens me that things, like community gardens, which should be so simple, are barred by heavy bureaucracy and legal complications.

My week at camp has been very busy, with 5-8 hours of class a day and the rest of my time spent with campers. However the garden is growing, I brought classes around to taste different herbs, and with most of my classes we made bracelets out of sheep wool, in lieu of sustainable crafts, or visited the farm animals we have at the ranch. Over the next few weeks I'm hoping to develop some solid lessons about food, and hopefully I'll have some things in the garden to pick and cook with the campers.