In the Johnson Garden by Rick Harden

With 15 classes scheduled over the course of the week; the addition of some new activities and several ongoing projects, we’ve had a busy fall in the Johnson Garden despite a rainy and wet growing season. We are making progress turning the upper garden into a butterfly and bird sanctuary (with lots of flowering plants), designing a mud kitchen, and rebuilding our bug motel -- all with input and help from the Johnson community of teachers, students and families. Thank you for being in the garden!

After our extremely wet summer, many of our vegetables did not fare as well as they have in the past. Normally we have lots to eat when the school year starts. Luckily, our cherry tomatoes have been our saving grace and went a bit crazy. According to Ms. Pattie, a first grade teacher, students were snacking on them at the bus line as they left every afternoon. In addition, we did successfully grow brown, green and white cotton in our Garden for the 3rd year in a row.

In addition to growing our garden, students have been engaged with lots of activities. With our 25 new clipboards and colored pencils, the students found leaves to do rubbings and for tracing and coloring. There was also time for free drawing which produced great art-work and provided me with the opportunity to see the garden through the students’ perspectives. Students also enjoy measuring any and everything in the Garden and recording their results. We also try to use every opportunity to learn more about the bugs that help the garden grow, and thus talk a lot about pollinators besides the obvious bees and butterflies. Day moths, flies, flower beetles, hummingbirds and even ants are pollinators. We watched and learned that the straw like proboscis is what butterflies and moths use to suck up liquids and small particles.

The garden is always evolving. In addition to our efforts to transform the upper garden to better attract birds and butterflies, we are transforming what was a small turtle habitat into a space for berries and grapes, and working to reconstruct our bug hotel. Although there have been reported sightings of Pumpkin and Spice (our former turtle tenants) on school grounds, the two have clearly abandoned the small habitat that the Johnson community created for them in the Garden. We have reclaimed the habitat as our berry patch; with Blackberry, Dewberry and Concord grape vines growing and plans to add raspberry in the spring. 

Meet Beatrice and the UACC Volunteers!

As a long-time volunteer with UACC’s urban farm, Beatrice Clark has been “throwing something back” to the Charlottesville community for more than 5 years. Her family relocated to Charlottesville, from Delaware, when she was 6 years old. They lived on Page Street where Beatrice remembers a large garden bursting with lettuce and green beans, corn and carrots, and her favorite, tomatoes – “Because there are so many ways that I can use them.”

Under the guiding hand of her step-father, she sowed seeds, defended the young plants from invading weeds, and harvested delicious vegetables according to the seasons. Growing up, Beatrice saw barriers to personal and professional advancement deliberately sown in the lives of people of color, like weeds in a garden. She recounts, “This was during the time of segregation, not only in the schools but the communities as well. There were very distinct African-American neighborhoods. They were truly neighborhoods. Everyone knew everyone and looked out for one another.“

Along with the rest of her crew, Beatrice helps out others who can’t make it to the Market Days. “I pick up and deliver vegetables to several of my elderly friends and neighbors who express their sincere thanks and appreciation for my service. Some of them have said, ‘I can hardly wait until Friday to see what goodies I will be receiving.’”

And how does Bea like her vegetables? One of her favorite recipes is Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie. Ingredients include sliced zucchini, chopped onions, herbs, eggs, and cheese and it sounds delicious.

                                                                    TOP LEFT TO RIGHT:                                                                                Harriet Carter, Patricia White, Shirley Thompson, Richard Morris, Shantell Bingham, Tami Wright (UACC Board Co-Chair)
BOTTOM LEFT TO RIGHT: Linda Ayers, Beatrice Clark, Jeanette Abi-Nader, Jenifer Minor (UACC Farm Manager)