The Summer of 2019 marked an important milestone for ECOTONE World and our St. Charles Street Urban Community Garden & Orchard. We celebrated 10 years of sowing seeds of community sustainability; growing fresh organic produce in a food desert, and teaching hundreds of youth to garden in our “outdoor classroom!” This past June we did “the usual”–teach students to garden, use lawn equipment, prune fruit trees, compost and repair fencing through our annual Summer Gardening Camp. What a sense of accomplishment we had at the sight of young people doing positive work outdoors and realizing that this is what ten years of dedication has brought to harvest—good fruit!
An Interview: “Let’s Talk Food Deserts, Community Gardening and Sustainability!”
On a beautiful Spring day our Founder took a seat for an interview conducted by this “Class of 2019” Senior student of Prairie View A&M University seeking information to support her Business School Graduation Project. The answer is Yes, she wants to be about the business of community gardening, sustainability, farmer’s markets…– all of the things Chef Tarsha has been up to for the past 10 years! Needless to say they chatted while picking tomatoes and peaches and taking watermelon breaks in the sunshine. It didn’t take long before she also realized that gardening most certainly qualifies as a workout! We wish her the best success in her future endeavors and we’ll be here when she needs our help. #greenthumbsup
Click the following link for an audio snippet: http://www.instagram.com/p/BwLOZG3BlcV/?igshid=ql6modzdtj3
Small Space Gardening 101: A Family Affair
What a joy it was to observe the bonding time of this father and daughter team, when they took our “Urban Gardening Life Skills Class” in this Spring 2019. We were excited about their new found competency after spending 4 hours (spent over two Saturdays) at the St. Charles Street Urban Community Garden & Orchard learning how to: construct a raised garden bed, build an organic compost bin; seed selection; sowing seeds and cultivate crops. We were even happier to learn that they had constructed a new garden at their home to benefit the entire family after taking our class! #greenthumbsup
