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Second Year Story (2009)
First Year Story (2008)
Other News & Pictures
Urban Roots 2009
Urban Roots Farm Interns cooking a meal for Spring Terrace residents 3/28/09
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Urban Roots' Second Year Story Our second year recruiting and hiring process started out with a big difference from the first year:
we had the help of our Assistant Crew Leaders (ACL), three stellar first-year farm interns who
continued with Urban Roots as peer leaders. At the interviews, the ACLs' presence made the youth
who were interviewing more at ease and they took the lead in talking about what to expect as a farm
intern. We then hired 15 Farm Interns, who-along with our ACLs - would become the heart and soul of
our program for the next year.
Our first few weeks on the farm with youth were a time of discovery: Farm Interns learned how much
hard work is required to grow the food we eat. They saw their first cucumber beetles and learned
how to tell a beneficial insect from a pest. Together, they learned to plant, harvest, and
cultivate vegetables that some of them had never even eaten: beets, carrots, collard greens,
squash, leeks, and more. As spring progressed into summer, they were faced with many challenges.
The heat set in early, and even though we only spend half the day doing agricultural work, everyone
had to learn how to pace themselves and take water breaks so that we could keep working. Once the
summer started, we also started the program one hour earlier at 8:00, which meant many of the youth
had to wake up earlier than they had for school!
We also challenged our interns to look outside their own lives and to see how much they could help
others in need. During the summer program, youth volunteered at the Capital Area Food Bank and
Caritas, and sold produce at low-income WIC markets. They also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and
served a meal at Spring Terrace housing community. As one intern said,
Before I went to Caritas I expected to see homeless people and people who had a home but were in
need to food. What I did see was well-mannered people who were grateful and said we were a
blessing. At Caritas I realized how lucky I am and that helping others in need or less fortunate is
doing my part in keeping the world up, instead of tearing it down.
-Farm Intern, 2009
Many of the Farm Interns had never worked in the soil before or worked as close to nature as they
did on the farm. Through various workshops they learned about compost, beneficial insects, how to
create an attractive display at the farmer's market, and about the benefits of farming organically.
Additionally Farm Interns grew by leaps and bounds as they learned how to speak in public and led
volunteers on Community Volunteer Days. They gained confidence and poise with each new opportunity,
and amazed even themselves at their newfound skills: "I never new I could speak in front of other
people before," said one young intern.
Two of the biggest opportunities for our Farm Interns to display their speaking skills were at our
Community Lunches and at Summer Farm Fest. Our three Community Lunches were a smashing hit this year!
Chefs from local restaurants Z-Tejas, Zoot, and La Condesa took youth into their kitchens and taught
them how to cook by preparing a meal with fresh produce from the Urban Roots farm. They then brought
the meal back to the farm, where a group of guests from the community were waiting. On the stage,
under the shade of a grove of oak trees, we shared a meal while the young chefs described each dish
and spoke about their experience working on the farm.
Summer Farm Fest was another big day! On June 27, we opened the farm to all and participants enjoyed
farm tours, tomato tasting, compost demonstrations, rotten tomato tossing, and Pico de Gallo making
demonstrations. Visitors also played games, bought produce at the farm stand, and voted for "Veggie
of the Year", among other things. In the Veggie Vote, Tomato pulled ahead to win and brought saucy
back. The Okra Races were a close match, but in the end our racing ACL, who went under the name
"Itchy-Fingers," surged ahead of our own program coordinator Max Elliott, aka "Okramanos."
Itchy-Fingers will certainly go down in Urban Roots history!
Our year ended with a more intimate gathering, where families of the youth came to the farm for a
potluck feast and celebration of the year. Interns put on skits to show what they had learned and
shared their accomplishments with the guests. For the 2009 program year, Urban Roots Farm Interns
grew 21,347 pounds of fresh produce. Out of this, 8,710 pounds were donated to hunger relief
organizations, such as Caritas, Meals on Wheels, and the Capital Area Food Bank. Well done, y'all!
This place where we grow is so small but yet it's too big. We plant, weed, and harvest. This
seems so hard but your hands get used to it. We sweat and complain about the pain, but when you
know how far the food goes, you feel great and want to keep doing what you did.
-Farm Intern, 2009
Urban Roots' First Year Story
We started recruiting young people for the program in January, and had nearly 50 applications for the
15 initial Farm Intern positions. Through group and individual interviews, we narrowed the field
down to 15 remarkable young people from all over Austin, but concentrated on East Austin.
The spring session started with an all-day retreat on February 9th, where the young people met, bonded,
and learned about the expectations for the year. Starting mid-February, the Farm Interns spent Tuesdays
and Thursdays after-school and Saturdays all day at the farm, learning about organic farming, sustainability
and healthy living.
For the 2008 program year, we secured one acre of land in East Austin on the Hands of the Earth Farm.
This land is one mile from Johnston High School and is accessible to our participants and the public.
When the young people harvested the produce for the first time (two garbage bags of Spinach to be donated
to Caritas - a local hunger-relief organization), one Intern called the others to gather around, and said
"Guys, we grew this!"
Since then, the Interns planted and harvested collard greens, lettuce, cilantro, carrots, beets, cabbage,
turnips, onions and potatoes. They have participated in Farmers' Markets across Austin, and their produce
has been sold to Wheatsville Co-op, Casa De Luz Restaurant, Greenling Organic Delivery Company, and the
Hands of the Earth Farm CSA. Their produce has also been donated to Meals on Wheels, Casa Marianella,
Manos de Cristo, Spring Terrace transitional living facility, and Caritas. On April 19th, a group of Farm
Interns prepared a meal at Spring Terrace for the residents. Over 80% of the ingredients used in preparation
were harvested from the farm. One resident was so moved by these young people and the program that he
donated a painting he had created to YouthLaunch.
The Farm Interns sold 10,650 pounds of produce to Farmers' Markets, CSA's and restaurants, and donated an
additional 7,200 pounds of produce. We had set a goal of donating 40% and selling 60%, and were right
on the mark.
The Interns participated in many workshops, including public speaking, running a market, and cooking.
They learned about organic farming and sustainability, and bonded as a group as they learned life
skills and served their community.
In April, the Farm Interns donated 340 heads of lettuce to Meals on Wheels. They packaged the heads
in recycled plastic bags. The recipients received both fresh produce as well as this poem from
Breez, a Farm Intern from Garza High School:
This lettuce was grown by
Urban Roots
From the seed to the plate,
Urban Roots grew what you ate.
What you see is what you eat,
Grown by just 15 kids, using their hands and their feet.
Urban Roots Events & Pix
Urban Roots has been selected to receive the "2009 Local Hero Award" from Edible Communities.
Urban Roots Summer Farm Fest, Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Summer Farm Fest featured fun, games and fresh produce grown and harveste by our Farm Interns.
Participants partook in Tomato Tasting, the Great Pepper Challenge, and Name That Seed (the game
that's sweeping the nation). The Urban Roots Interns led farm tours and education stations.
And visitors stopped by our special festival farm stand and took home fresh,
organically grown tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and other seasonal vegetables.
Pictures from our first year
On the Farm
At the Market
Volunteers
Community Lunches
Family Potluck
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