The idea is to go beyond the goal of profit and business for farming and use it as a vehicle to teach, inspire, heal and empower. (Now don't get me wrong here there is still a great need for production farming) Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a place that practiced in a matter of speaking just that. In the middle of Durham, NC there is a small 2 acre plot of converted land from a car garage/funeral parlor that reaches out to the community and makes a difference in the lives of its youth. It is known as the SEEDS garden: "SEEDS educates youth and adults through gardening, growing food and cultivating respect for life, for earth and for each other".
It was truly an inspirational place that provided a safe place for youth to come and learn in a earth based classroom if you will. The program recognizes that each child responds in their own way and for this reason they provide a variety of opportunities for each of them to express themselves.
As you enter the garden you are welcomed by a low maintenance butterfly garden that has been set up as an example to the community. Followed by 2 large iron garden inspired gates. To one side you see Yurtle the Turtle (a water cistern) where students learn of the recycling and use of water, compost bins are a place to learn of the recycling of nutrients and waste and respect for the ones who do it...worms. Continuing in the garden you see a large perennial garden very conducive to quiet reflection with a grape covered arbor and children's artwork throughout. Continuing on you will see the Seedlings garden for the elementary kids which allow each one their on 3' by 2' space to plant anything they want and care for, a teepee made of beans that they can sit under, a wall of student artwork and beautiful tulips.
The tour then continues into a herb garden where the senses of smell and touch are heightened with each plant. Students are encouraged to touch and feel the plants while also getting to learn about its uses in cooking classes. Fig trees provide a healthy snack when in full bloom as well as a fun place to climb and hang out in it's mangled branches. More compost bins read "feed me," "I'm full" and "burp" as ways to describe their stage in the compost cycle and are followed by nearly 20 raised beds framed by rough cut cedar planks. Here is where community members may have their own plot for their own devices and the experimentation of their own practices. At the end of the plots are a small pond and an outdoor classroom. The pond serves as a source of entertainment from wildlife where the children love to play with frogs and catch insects which they are then taught Karate moves such as the praying mantis in the outdoor classroom. The children are able to let their energy escape in the forms of each movement while learning the traditions and art forms within the moves.
A fire pit is a place where students must go through a rite of passage so to speak in order to participate and learn the art of being a fire keeper. Here students are given the freedom and open space to express themselves, problems they're having and symbolically overcome them with the burning of the fire. The transparency of the workers and volunteers provide a role model when for some there is none. These relationships foster deeper connections in each life where they can be healed, inspired and liberated from their troubles to be empowered to find themselves in the world and do great things. I listened to the representation and the use of the fire as a classroom and coaching tool I couldn't help but think back to my days in Girl Scouts where I found similar comforts while sitting around a campfire. Here all guards were down and the flicker of the fire showed me how life really worked.
At the end of the tour I couldn't help but smile. For many years I have tried to think of ways to use the garden as an outdoor classroom but this was something more than I ever imagined. It was a place for holistic thinking and nourishment: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I hope that one day I'm able to be a part of something that makes such an impact in the way that this program is doing. It encourages me to continue working with youth but makes me question the way in which I do it!
For more info about SEEDS visit seedsnc.org :)
