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Acre is an oasis of food, learning
By SCOTT WALDMAN Staff writer
Published 12:00 a.m., Sunday, August 7, 2011

SCHENECTADY -- An army of children is bringing food to the desert.

A 1-acre lot on Fehr Avenue is in the middle of a "food desert," which is an area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food. But an innovative program for children is bringing fresh vegetables to local residents, even as it teaches children how to farm.

The Roots and Wisdom program is in its sixth year and draws young people between the ages of 6 and 18 from Schenectady and the surrounding communities. It teaches children how to till the soil, plant seedlings, make compost, and harvest vegetables and fruit. And, perhaps most importantly, it teaches them to love eating broccoli, carrots, raspberries, and the 140 other varieties of fruits and vegetables grown on the urban plot flanked by homes.

The program teaches young people how to create and maintain a sustainable local food system, said Christine Horigan, who founded the program and is employed by the Cornell University Cooperative Extension. Not only do children grow and harvest their vegetables, but they also run a farm stand and travel to a local food pantry to donate enough fresh produce to feed 35 families every week.

"It tastes better than store-bought," said Brandon Williams, a 14-year-old freshman at Schenectady High. "When you dig, you never know what you can find."

Williams spent a recent morning pulling potatoes out of the soil. Other teenagers gathered dead plants and threw them in a compost pile. Henry Wang, 6, proudly held up a bright green grasshopper he had caught and was admiring with some friends.

Fritz Dorr, 7, of Amsterdam likes plucking carrots from the Earth the best. Now, he wants to plant some in his urban backyard.

"I like to dig," he said. "Now I know how to grow plants by myself."

Roots and Wisdom was one of 10 organizations in the Capital Region this summer to receive assistance from the Time Union's Hope Fund, which raises money to help pay for after-school and summer-camp programs for at-risk and needy children in the Capital Region. The fund awarded $39,280 that in most cases allowed children to attend programs free of charge..........................>>>>>..............................>>>>>..................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Acre-is-an-oasis-of-food-learning-1751644.php#ixzz1ULNizfir

I've seen that garden over there. It looks well maintained. Christine Horigan is to be commended for running a program that is good for kids on so many levels.