Day on the Farm with Fulbright Scholars

Recently, our students spent an entire morning out on the farm working with a group of Fulbright scholars visiting the city. The kids were very curious about all of the places the volunteers hailed from, and the questions they directed at our new friends from Australia and Germany and many other points were seemingly never-ending. However, the questioning had to continue through an ambitious work schedule for the morning.

The high point of the day for our younger students was the worm farm that the scholars put together for the farm.

They are laughing in this photo because despite the instructions coming in five languages, all of them known by at least one member of the group, it still proved a challenging project. While the kids waited for completion, they made a kale salad for the worms.

And poked around in the bucket of worms to make sure they were ready for their new home.

And then could not get enough of them once moved to their permanent house. Mrs. Felder, second grade teacher, here helps the students understand how worms are beneficial to our farm.

The older kids had plenty to do as well.

And were even joined by Assistant Principal Hill in weeding the butterfly garden.

And how did we keep them all going strong? We encouraged them to eat the blossoms off these kale plants. They LOVED them! Well, most of them did. There were the three children who claimed they tasted like dirt.

Many thanks to the Fulbright scholars who helped make for such a happy and educational morning on the farm!

Our Herb Garden

We tend to think of herbs mostly from the culinary point of view as plants that lend flavor to food whereas vegetables provide substance, but in a broader sense, herbs are any plants with leaves, or seeds, or flowers that are used to not only flavor food, but are used medicinally, spiritually, and for perfume. It is with this broader sense in mind that the Herb Garden at Walker-Jones has now developed into a resource not just for culinary flavorings, but which now incorporates a number of species traditionally used by native Americans for medicine and sacred rituals, and plants that provide intriguing or inviting scents.

By far the most prominent plants featured in our herb garden belong to the Lamiaceae, the mint family, however we’re not just talking about mints like peppermint, but also rosemary, savory, marjoram and oregano, lemon balm, hyssop, lavender, thyme, and sage; as well as bee balm, catnip, self-heal, and deadnettles. Most of the over 3,000 species in this family have aromatic parts often used in medicine and cooking. They have leaves in opposite pairs which are usually toothed, they often have square stems, and their flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with five unified petals (forming a lower and an upper lip) and five unified sepals.

The design of the Herb Garden takes some inspiration from Japanese tradition: the gateways are always open, so as not to shut anybody out; because evil spirits are said to only travel in straight lines, the paths wind around, leaving evil spirits behind; and in the meander of the paths some stones are set unevenly, focusing a visitor’s thoughts on their walk, rather than problems the world outside.

This post was contributed by David Hilmy, Walker Jones EC Physical Education teacher and coordinator of student Green Team initiatives. Mr. Hilmy is responsible for the renovation of our perennial herb garden this season.

Blue Ribbon Youth Leadership Institute Visit

Last Wednesday, 31 high school students from Chapel Hill, NC, spent the morning learning and working at The Farm. After Sarah explained that serotonin could be absorbed by digging in the dirt with bare hands and that the bee colonies house at The Farm were ruled by powerful queens, the students went to work, keeping a curious eye on the bees. The energetic 9-12th grade students weeded the strawberry garden, transplanted lettuce and kale seedlings, tilled the herb garden, and cleared a perimeter around our annuals bed.

“I hope to impact DC by giving back to their community,” said 12th grade student Cyerah O’Briant. The students were part of the Blue Ribbon Youth Leadership Institute, an organization dedicated to providing youth with leadership skills necessary to become servant leaders in their communities and to empower them to be advocates for change. The group of students was visiting D.C. for their annual alternative spring break trip where students participate in service projects, college visits, and cultural enrichment activities. Many of the students had worked in in community garden in Chapel Hill before, but most of the group had never been to D.C.