This year Veggielution sent our first representative to the national Rooted in Community conference.  The organization serves as a network of youth working towards food justice in their local communities.  The regional gatherings and national conferences are unique in that the events and workshops are youth driven and youth led, creating a space for creativity, empowerment, and real change.  The conference this year was hosted by the Urban Nutrition Initiative in Philadelphia, PA with the main objective to create and advocate for the Youth Food Bill of Rights.  This document was created entirely by the youth, with the adults being asked to leave the room until after it has been created.  This summer, the Dig Crew sent youth leader Alyssa Quinonez as out representative, armed with our own ideas and demands collected during the summer program.  Read the working version of the Youth Food Bill of Rights and see below for Alyssa’s personal reflections on the experience.

Throughout my trip in Philadelphia I learn a lot about the food system but beyond that I learned more about myself and other teens around the country that are doing the very same thing I am. Farming for the goodness of earth and others, knowing that farming doesn’t have to be seen as a mean for making profits but can be used as a way to connect with other around you and form a strong community. Rooted in Community, the name itself explains it all.  There are a thousand ways to interpret this title and the one that sticks to me the most is being proud of your culture and where you come from. My community is San Jose, California- a city rich in history and culture but today is know as a city filled with gangs and trouble. None of that is true and with the conference I was able to realize how many other people think it’s cool that I’m from California, I learned how during WWI and WWII California was the main grower in providing food for the men overseas. Throughout the conference I met amazing people who are doing amazing things throughout the country; I will never forget all the friends I made. The Youth Food Bill of Rights really gave a voice to all the youth, we were able to address what we want to change or improve. Through that experience I really learned how to voice my opinion and speak up for what I feel is right. Many of these key events that occurred at the conference related to the Dig Crew where we learn a lot from farming but grow as a family and find our own voice.

August 6th marked the end of our summer youth program and the beginning of a wonderful new tradition on the farm.  Over 30 competitors came out to the farm to support our highschool Dig Crew and participate in the first annual Farm Olympics.   Teams included the Hungy Hungry Hippos, Go Green! , Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, and the Pumpkins.  Teams were challenged both mentally and physically, weaving a wheelbarrow in and out of obstacles, hand watering thirsty yarrow plants, spitting cherry seeds as far as the eye could see, speed eating corn on the cob, and shot-putting giant vegetables.  Competition was heated, especially in the Cherry Tomato Chubby Bunny competition, with finalists meeting head to head and the winner stuffing over 15 tomatoes in his mouth!  During our final event, the Weed-A-Thon, participants cleared the farm of nasty weeds with our Supreme Champion Daniel Acosta (former youth program participant) pulling 34 lbs.  With our efforts combined, we pulled 382 lbs of weeds in less than an hour.  Maybe we should have a Weed-a-Thon every workday… Thanks to our participants and sponsors, we raised over $600 to support the summer Dig Crew and send youth leader Alyssa Quinonez to the national Rooted in Community conference in Philadelphia!

Sweet Corn

This week’s blog was written by one of our Summer Youth Leaders, Travis Abate.  Travis found the farm through a visit with the Discovery Museum’s “Green Team”, was a Dig Crew member last summer, and has returned to serve as a peer-mentor to our current Dig Crew.

As our fifth week of the Dig Crew comes to a close, we have been able to enjoy several workshops outside of “just farming”, such as our Cooking Matters classes.  We start off each session with a lesson about nutrition. The Dig Crew got to learn how our digestive system is structured—where all our food is going and what happens to it along the way. This week we learned about proteins, and how they can contribute to our system (as well as be detrimental with too much or too little). After each nutritional lesson, we go over to the potluck area where we start off on the actual cooking. A few weeks ago, our wonderful chef Galina taught us how to make simple falafels with veggies from the farm. This week, we made chicken and rice complete with a demo of cutting up a whole chicken, using garlic, onions, and carrots, all with a lovely cucumber salad.

Aside from cooking workshops, we’ve also taken on more mature topics such as food systems and oppression. On Thursday we learned about all kinds of oppression, from racial to religious. It was just about everything that I normally didn’t think about on a daily basis, like ageism for example. However, now that we had that lesson, it’s something I have taken to heart. Now sure, oppression is a heavy topic, so what do we do? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out today, Friday, in a “Resistance” workshop.

Albeit the fact we already do so much in just a week, there is ALWAYS time for field trips. This Saturday we are heading down to a farm in Santa Cruz, for a youth conference hosted by “Food What?!”.  I attended the conference last year, and I remember what a great time it was. With workshops such as candle making or bee keeping, and even flower smelling, it is more than enough to make the weekend about the greatest thing ever. I’m looking forward to going there with the Dig Cre, and meeting other Bay Area youth groups.

To sum up all of this, the Dig Crew has given me a purpose in the summer; I’ve taken away so much about farming and more. This youth program is extremely important to me, and even though I couldn’t see myself working the soil for real two years ago, here I am.

Saturday Workday

Join us this Saturday for our workday from 10am-12:30pm, followed by a potluck! Bring a dish to share–homemade or challenge yourself and buy food locally produced! We need more volunteers on our Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Workdays as well, so learn more information here.

Low-cost Farmstand and Starters for Sale

Every Saturday from 10am-2pm we have a low-cost farmstand. We will also be selling basil, eggplant, and pepper starters for $1.50!

Can’t make it? On Fridays from 9am-2pm we sell at the San Pedro Square Farmer’s Market too in downtown San Jose!

Farm Box Program Launch – Only 8 Sponsor Shares Left!

Making Farm Fresh Food More Accessible to You!

Hurry and sign up for one of our 10 Sponsor Shares to buy produce directly from our farm using the “Community Supported Agriculture” model in which you partner with us to purchase a share of our summer harvest.

• When? July 12, 2011 to November 1, 2011 for 17 weeks.
• Payment? Pay for 17 weeks at $30 per week
• Food? Vegetables will vary each season, and there will be enoughfor a family of 4 for 1 week.
• Our Sponsor Shares support our Family Shares program, which is reserved at a reduced price for 20 families that live in the 95116 or 95112 zip code, or are enrolled in the Cal-Fresh (Food Stamp) program.
• Participants will pick up their food at Veggielution each Tuesday from 1pm-7pm.
• Find out more information here and sign up at farmbox@veggielution.org or call 408-758-8EAT.

This week’s blog was written by one of our Summer Youth Leaders, Molly Cashman.  Molly was a Dig Crew member last summer, has served as a Workday Leader facilitating community volunteer, and has returned to serve as a peer-mentor to our current Dig Crew.

This is our second week here at the farm this summer and we have already done and learned so much that will be a great foundation for the rest of the summer.  We started off last week with games to get to know our other Dig Crew members and I can already tell that we are going to have a great community here in the Dig Crew.  Every Thursday, the Dig Crew is in charge of harvesting and washing all of the food for the farmer’s market and the farm stand.  So far, we have learned how to harvest cilantro, onions, green onions, garlic, rainbow chard, kale, beets, and radishes.  On Friday we went to the Downtown Farmers Market where we got to taste mouth-watering samples, bond with our fellow Dig Crew members, talk to marketeers and customers, and even take part in a cherry seed spitting contest.  We visited Veggielution’s stand and saw all of the produce that we had harvested the day before, so we were all super excited and proud to see our produce looking beautiful and ready to be sold.  With “Carrot Cash” from our Cooking Matters class, we bought awesome fruits and veggies- strawberries, potatoes, chard, blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, nectarines, onions, and garlic to name a few.  The day at the Farmer’s Market was a great way to see what farmer markets have to offer and many of us are already planning to go back on the weekend.  After a great two weeks, I’m extremely excited for the rest of the summer of farming, harvesting, learning, making new friends, cooking, and having fun!

Workday Volunteers!

We need all the help we can get on our workdays on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday!  If you are interested in going above and beyond, we can train you to become a workday leader, and help us with workdays, low-cost farmstand, or farmer’s market stand!  We also welcome groups to volunteer!

Wednesday 8:30am-12:30pm & 2-5:30pm.
Tuesday and Thursday 8:30am-12:30pm.
Saturday 10am-12:30pm.

Free Tomato Plants at the Farmstand

We’ve planted all the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers we will this year, so the hundreds of plants we have now are extra. We’ll be giving away free 4″ tomato plants this week to everyone who visits our Saturday Farmstand from 10am-2pm, and everyone who volunteers. Limit 4 free plants per individual/family. We’ll also be selling pepper, eggplant and basil starts for $1.50 each.

Farm Box Program Launch – Making Farm Fresh Food More Accessible to You!

We are proud to announce our very first Farm Box program, which will start this summer. This is your chance to buy produce directly from our farm using the “Community Supported Agriculture” model in which you partner with us to purchase a share of our summer harvest. Individuals or families can subscribe to the Farm Box program from July 12, 2011 to November 1, 2011 for 17 weeks for either a Sponsor Share or Family Share. Each week, participants will receive a large box with a variety of vegetables that are currently available on the farm.

With a Sponsor Share, individuals or families pay for 17 weeks at $30 per week for produce enough for a family of 4 for 1 week. We only have 10 Sponsor Shares, so sign up today! Our Sponsor Shares support our Family Shares program, which is reserved for 20 families that live in the 95116 or 95112 zip code, or are enrolled in the Cal-Fresh (Food Stamp) program. Each Family share costs $15 a week, and subscribers must meet eligibility requirements. Click here to learn more and sign up.

Farm Work Schedule this week

We had an epic rainy Saturday together this past weekend – over 20 volunteers braved the rain and help us transplant. This was a very critical step in making sure we don’t get behind schedule, but this week the fast pace of work continues and we’ll need extra help Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday

Wednesday June 8 / 8:30am-12:30pm & 2-5:30pm – In the morning we’ll be clearing some beds, pruning and trellising tomatoes. Later in the afternoon, we’ll be direct seeding new crops and working on irrigation.
Thursday June 9 / 8:30am-12:30pm & 2-5:30pm – We need to harvest for the farmer’s market first thing in the morning, which will take several hours. Afterwards, we’ll be seeding our “Three Sisters” Intercrop of blue corn, dry beans and winter squash out in the new acre, along with more irrigation and pruning work and possibly planting watermelons towards the end of the day.
Saturday – We need all the help we can get! We didn’t completely slow down last Saturday, but there is a huge list that needs to be accomplished this week, and if we had 60 volunteers this weekend, it wouldn’t be excessive. We’ll hopefully be seeding our large winter squash crop, weeding a ton, mantaining the greenhouse and further developing the children’s garden, amongst a whole lot of other things.

Free Tomato Plants at the Farmstand

We’ve planted all the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers we will this year, so the hundreds of plants we have now are extra. We’ll be giving away free 4″ tomato plants this week to everyone who visits our Saturday Farmstand from 10am-2pm, and everyone who volunteers. Limit 4 free plants per individual/family. We’ll also be selling pepper, eggplant and basil starts for $1.50 each.