ECOTONE World

In our continued effort to cultivate urban community green-space, we are long-standing observers of value, added from a platform of “flexibility.”

Our flexibility begins with Land acquisition. The Land offers access, space, and the opportunity to meander through a practical execution of our thoughts, plans, and designs in an outdoor classroom or, in other words, a laboratory of good will and resilience. We are free to try, to fail and to change course and to try again — a priceless opportunity! The number of successes counted from this “flexible approach” are many and have, in their accumulation, sturdied-up our “hedge of organic sustainability.”

In this new season, as spring turns to summer, our sites are on history and agriculture; public art and impact and the newness found in the illustration of the past. We’re excited to actualize our plan starting with Juneteenth — a celebration surrounding the Emancipation of enslaved people of color in the southern region of these United States.

We’re growing Cotton. Hopefully, with much success, a small cotton field to offer tactile context referencing the Southern and global dominance of the crop. We’ve begun planting “brown cotton” seeds sourced from what is considered the “deep south” that is the Mississippi delta. While Texas most certainly has a history for cotton plantations, our goal as always is to bring conversation (consumption and utilization) around varying cultures. In this example, it is the historical culture of Southern agriculture. We’ll also plant: Sugar Cane, Okra, Watermelons, Peanuts, Sweet Potatoes, and Tabbacco. Already on deck are our fruit trees and shrubs: Peaches, Plums, Blackberries, Bananas, Citrus, Pears, Figs and grapes. Our orchard is made complete with the speckling of a few Pecan Trees continuing to mature.

A Public Art installation is underway as well with the latest piece having recently been delivered. “The Cross” is a touring art installation created by the talent of artist, Kimberly Lakes and is constructed of wire and found objects. We are excited to offer a home to the public exhibition of the piece. The objective is to welcome contemplation of its meaning as it relates to imagery in the fields of the south and its symbolism in the context of our confines — the Cotton Field. The Cross will take on some on-site restoration in preparation for its exhibition placement as we get ready for our Juneteenth Garden Space.

We’re on the move with community outreach and healthy food education programming! Today, Chef Tarsha, Founder of ECOTONE World was joined by Ron McFarland, Founder | Farmer of Harlem River Farms for their collaborative presentation: “The Farmer & The Chef: Where Is Our Food Coming From?” In support of NEO Project’s Outdoor & Green Careers Day, Chef Tarsha and Farmer Ron led interactive engagement with approximately 120 students at Towne West Elementary School in Fort Bend County, Houston TX Given four sessions of 40 minutes intervals, students’ expressed excitement and anticipation as they as they got to touch and taste, dream and draw, and create culinary art! “Tropical Fruit Skewers” were the talk of Townewest Elementary (smile) and everyone had an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas in response to the question: Where is Our Food Coming From? The opportunity to work with their hands, engage nature (via live plants), and eat their work went over well with young career dreamers. We hope to have inspired a few Farmers and Chefs out of this bunch!

Climate change is affecting everyone around the country in a number of ways some of which, shall we say, are not so bad. Here in Southeast Texas we’ve seen an extension in our Summer growing season availing a warmer than usual Fall. Let’s just call it “Summerall,” a fusion of both seasons, the latter of which has had an incredible effect on the garden.

So many more summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, black berries and even watermelons (say whaaat) have continued to grow well into October! With no clear end to the Summer harvest we rolled into the Fall harvest without a trace. Abundant sacks of unexpected top quality organic produce had been a gift with many great meal options for months to come.

Interestingly enough, we learned that our growing zone had changed from Zone 9 to Zone 8. Only time will tell whether or not we’ll be able to plan for this kind of growth pattern in the coming year. Faced with blazing heat and drought conditions, we’ve adapted to rising temps little by little, season by season to improve our growing practice; require less water and implement heavier mulching. We’ve let grass and weeds grow in certain instances to provide a natural ground cover and retain moisture deep into the soil. We haven’t rushed to use our rainwater reserve tanks. Instead, the observation of nature’s adaptation in spite of the heat confirmed our “ground game” had proven successful. Choosing to “spot” hand-water once or twice, we allowed the green space to fight for survival instead of pampering it with regular watering. The fact is all gardens want to grow! Our efforts were rewarded greatly and we’re still harvesting!