It is hard to believe that it is the middle of August already. Time goes by quickly when you have had a hose attached to your arm seven days a week like I have this summer.
It was great to have a little rain the other day and I took the opportunity to catch up on my own backyard.
This summers'prolonged heat reminds me of two years ago when it was also very difficult to keep crops at various school farms adequately watered. My farming activities are small scale but they are important in that they are intended to teach children about food and farming.
The learners need to understand Mother Nature and how she can impact our lives, and quickly. Planning, prepping and managing farms big and small is a far more complex undertaking than most can fathom. Youngsters will retain and benefit by understanding these complexities.
I have been fortunate to witness youth, two in particular, who have been engaged and are a testament to embracing the idea of understanding farming.
The Farm Roots Mini School at the Boundary Beach Annex in Boundary Bay has been an undeniable success story. A half acre in full production has produced an abundance of fresh produce for the local community and there is lots more to come.
Seedlings initiated by the students were planted on the site under the tutelage of Allie Foell and Jasmine Bal who were hired as farm interns. These two most diligent farmers were tasked with maintaining the crops, harvesting them, retailing the end product and building community relations within Boundary Bay and afar.
Managing a half acre-plus site is no easy task, particularly when you are farming organically. The proximity of the Delta Farm Roots farm to abundant wild grasslands perpetuates weeds the like you would never imagine, yet the two intrepid farmers have managed to produce crops that have been of outstanding quality and readily purchased at the honour box stand at the site.
Foell and Bal are university students on a funded internship program.
Bal is a second year UBC student studying food and nutrition-al health. She is also a triathelete and from what I can hear, and avid music lover.
Foell is in her fourth year at the University of Waterloo studying environment and business and has previously worked with the Fresh Roots program in Vancouver.
You often hear talk about misguided "millenials" and their feel-ings of despair and hopelessness, but I can honestly say that I have never witnessed an example of greater work ethic.
They love what they are doing and we need much more of that. I am so proud of them and feel honoured to have worked with them.
The Delta Farm Roots program and Project Pickle that feeds it, are important programs that need support. You can start by going down to the farm and buying the best local product around. Foell, Bal and DFR volunteer extraordinaire Tracey Shelly even make pickles! The community enterprise that is underway at the Farm Roots site is exciting. We are going to celebrate it with an outdoor banquet in late September. Stay tuned.
