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(Science, Math, Art, and Gardening) For Students Plants, are, amazing! You might not think that at first, but they are. Would you believe that they are intelligent, that they talk to each other, that on any given day they are communicating with you, too, in some surprising ways? Most people would certainly never suspect that…
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As was written in the post prior to this one, one of the primary goals of Umoja Unity Gardens is to foster spaces that allow people to share intimate stories about themselves or their cultures. Not selfishly, as a means of focusing only on the one or the tribe, but generously, in hopes of showing…
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Certain statements are, on their surface, so offensive that they draw an almost reflexive denial from many people. The idea of “dirty, disease-ridden immigrants” is one such talking point. The notion is so dehumanizing – so evocative of the regressive animal as compared to the clean, highly-evolved human – that we are tempted to dismiss…
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When the hot soil is turned over to prepare for a June planting, nothing in a handful of wispy, black marigold seeds hints at the explosion of crimson and gold they will loose when their time comes. The plan for our first Umoja garden was to ring the edges with them because they attract pollinators,…
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Have you ever noticed that, according to Genesis, the first thing that God does after he creates man is to then create a garden for him. I believe this was purposeful. I believe it because I’ve noticed that while crops are growing in the ground other things are growing in us. I believe it because…
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If you are looking for an easy way to go from small talk to something a little heavier, try some of the question sets below. They start with more playful inquiries and move towards questions that, in unexpected ways, seek to illustrate some of the many commonalities linking us as human beings. Over time, more…
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Rilke is a German poet who writes a lot through the eyes of people who have somehow lost their way in life. In his most well-known work, The Book of Images, he writes from the perspective of what it feels to be a beggar, blind man, widow, drunkard, and many others. So it should come…
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Emily Dickinson is one of many people’s favorite poets because she can be playful and deep at the same time. The simple rhyme structure and nature-centric focus of many of her poems provides some friendly templates to help beginning poets try their own hand at letting their imaginations and feelings take first flight. The assignment,…
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If we are disconnected from others, it is first and foremost because we are disconnected from ourselves. We know our squares, our products, sums, and differences, but we do not always know the interior truth of self. I love the stories that poems usher into a space because being asked to write or read one…
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As I was planting the first garden, I was taken aback by how out-of-touch with nature I was, how alienated from the outdoors I had become. My wife was not surprised at all. She chides me daily for how much time I spend at my computer. The moment I planted a garden I cared about,…