Youth Article: Our First Taste of “Nurture”

Article written by Sameeha Rahman and Chloe Cho

As the summer breezes by, the past five weeks have been filled with devoted weeding, effort, laughter, sunburns, and bug encounters. Each team has helped to grow the garden and have fostered friendships and valuable connections. The Nurture Youth teams consist of only a couple of people,with age and expertise varying among every group. Working with people who all vary in age and expertise, makes it more enriching. We’re all able to learn something new from each other. 

Within our garden team, we are also provided an adult garden mentor who is knowledgeable in gardening and visits every week to guide us. Seeing the gardens progressively grow has been so rewarding and not even just from the tangible crops we harvest, but little aspects such as seeing how clean the garden beds are, and how moist the soil is, all contribute as great benefits. Learning from our mentors about gardening and improving our food literacy is a great accomplishment. I went into this program knowing just enough about gardening, I now feel that I have learned so much just by taking care of my garden.

Both of us are Garden leaders at our respective gardens; Glencairn and Centennial. 

For me, Chloe, the most enjoyable thing about Nurture so far has to be the team bonding that I encounter daily. From enjoying summer treats, such as popsicles and granola bars, provided to us by our garden mentors Erin, Malak, and Lily, to collaboratively brainstorming various solutions to better improve our gardens, working with and seeing these familiar faces every week make this summer break go by ten times faster.

Also, by always being provided with compelling workshops, hosted by the Youth in Food Systems team, there is always new knowledge to grasp, which is later sprinkled onto the prosperous school gardens. These workshops are facilitated by different community leaders, who are experts in their own field. The second workshop of the season, held at Cherry Park, focused on pollinators and their benefits to our gardens. Exploring public gardens that are cared for by community members of that area, we were provided a scenic tour of different pollinators integrated within numerous gardens. While also enjoying handfuls of delicious fruits and desserts from a local café, bonding with other workshop-goers and making new friends came easy.

I've learned valuable skills that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Also, I’ve learned gardening is much more than just “planting and watering.” There's so much more that goes into gardening including soil fertility, sunlight, and even the way you plant the seeds. All of the work is worth it when you do your harvest and get to send your fruits and vegetables back to the community through the Youth in Food Systems food markets and Cambridge Food Bank. I cannot wait to see how the garden continues to grow this season and how this rewarding experience continues to educate the youth in our region!