Upcoming Food Shelf and Local Food Event

 Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf will host a local foods night at St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church in St. Paul on Thursday, August 18th from 5:30-7:30 pm.

The event will feature cooking demonstrations by local chefs and CSA farmers, resource tables, samples of local fruits and vegetables, live music, and games for kids. 

For more information visit http://hallieqbrown.org/localfoods.pdf

Week Twelve: Park Crossing Apartments

The last Roots ‘n Reading program for summer 2009 is probably best described through the pictures below – especially from the salsa-making contest!

Thank you so much for reading!

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Week Twelve: Wilkins Townhomes

The final program at Wilkins Townhomes was canceled due to inclement weather. However, the students completed an activity in their homes, and I managed to snap some final pictures of the gardens between rain showers.

Week Ten: Park Crossing Apartments

This week we read, played, and watered – as well as attended an amazing tea party!

Week Ten: Wilkins Townhomes

This week the group visited Fort Snelling State Park for a scavenger hunt!

Week Nine: Park Crossing Apartments

A quick note to our readers: First, thank you very much for viewing our blog! The author and PPL both greatly appreciate your support. Second, two technical things. (1) The posting times on the entries have been changed to the Fridays directly after the programming on Wednesday and Thursday nights for uniformity and simplicity. Apologies if this has messed up anyone’s RSS reader. (2) Three of the anticipated four entries from the past two weeks are missing. This is intentional, as the author was out of town. Hopefully the last seven posts will make up for this gap. Finally, there are only three weeks left of Roots ‘n Reading 2009, so check back for updates as the program draws to a close. Cheers everyone!

Week Nine brought a variety of activities to Park Crossing. First was a reading unlike anything previous: a book about all of the “gross” aspects of nature.

Next, the student-tutor pairs decorated egg cartons, sprinkled herb seeds in them, and covered the seeds with soil. Soon, the students will have miniature, personal herb gardens!

Then, it was playtime. Chess was a new and welcome addition to the program.

Of course, sometimes the simplest items make for the best entertainment.

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Week Seven: Park Crossing Apartments

Some of the students found it a bit difficult to concentrate on their reading assignments, as the seed balls were dry and ready for dispersion. However, everyone buckled down and, once they got into their stories, enjoyed themselves.

A fun activity combining gardening and geometry followed reading; students and tutors designed their own garden(s) on graph paper.

Once the dream gardens were drawn, it was time to beautify the neighborhood with the seed balls. We chose to distribute them on an empty lot adjacent to the apartment complex, pictured below.

The adults and kids alike were so eager to throw – underhand – the seed balls that it was tricky to get many pictures of the fun to turn out. Still, check out the gallery below for a few more, and in the meantime we’ll keep an eye on the lot for signs of growth.

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Week Seven: Wilkins Townhomes

Students and tutors traveled to Minneapolis’ Soo Line community garden (on the Midtown Greenway) for Week Seven’s program.

With the help of gardeners and tutors, the kids completed a scavenger hunt in the diverse, large garden.

In addition, the student-tutor pairs planted flowers and herbs along the edge of the garden in exchange for the site’s hospitality.

We even had the chance to sample some of the garden’s products, including poppy seeds!

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Week Six: Park Crossing Apartments

Week Six’s theme at Park Crossing was neighborhood beautification. After a pep talk from Josh, students and tutors read a book (previously used at the other program site) about a girl who turns her unattractive neighborhood around.

Student-tutor pairs also beautified the book’s illustrations using colorful photographs of flower gardens.

While the students and tutors finished up their assignments, I took a look at the gardens. They were in great shape – and our tomatoes were coming in!

Finally, everyone pitched it to make dozens of seed balls: clay mixed with wildflower seeds and rolled into balls. Stay tuned; in a few weeks when the clay has dried, we will be distributing the seed balls somewhere in the neighborhood.

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Week Six: Wilkins Townhomes

Roots ‘n Reading meetings almost always begin with a kinetic activity designed to bring students and tutors together, and the first session of Week Six was no exception. Students were encouraged to role play components of a garden and got quite engaged.

Then, everyone settled down for a while for reading time.

The garden was making progress, and that meant it needed some significant watering. Luckily, Misky had devotion and a watering can.

Near the evening’s conclusion, Abé and Peter pulled some fresh lettuce and served it up!

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