Teamwork Helps a Garden Grow

On any given day, the groups coming together in the gardens are often as varied as the crops harvested.

A recent week at the Wedgewood Urban Garden welcomed Friends Life, a nonprofit serving the needs of adults with intellectual and development disabilities.  

After harvesting squash... 

...the group gathered flowers for their loved ones. 

"We have always prioritized service learning for our Friends through volunteer work, because we know how much they have to give to the community," said Waverly Harris-Christoper, Friends Life Community Director of Programs.

Meanwhile, students from CRIT's RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Students Empowered) program learned about the work of bees. 

The following day, a workforce development team from Room in the Inn helped agitate the soil where kale had just been harvested.

Ryan with Room in the Inn said he volunteered to help because TNFP had delivered meals to the church where he stays. "I thought it would be nice to give something back to the people who have given to me," he said. 

He sprayed tomato plants with an organic fertilizer made from comfrey (the broad left plant below), which grows well with stinging nettle and blueberry plants.  

Also at the garden, Deanna Kendall, a teacher at St. Cecilia Academy, brought a group from the school’s service camp. Each day the women visit a different organization.

“They get some pretty diverse experience," she said, "and hopefully they find a place to plug in.”