Welcome from July's A.L.L. ECO-ART Interns.  During this month A Living Library was blooming with garden growth and great ideas, which combined, created some very meaningful change.

Gladiolus began to bloom in glorious shades of crisp white to fluorescent pink, and the deepest, violet purple, that made them look like velvet.  Tomato, squash, and beans grew with true vigor. We had pumpkin flowers the size of a 4 year-old's head !  Our OMI/Excelsior Branch Living Library & Think Park owes it all to the hard work of our A.L.L. ECO-ART Student Stewards.  These 20 interns, some new, and some returning, made the A.L.L. Eco-Art Internship a true success because of their hard work in the Living Library Gardens, their continued role-modeling for the younger children, and, their overall, zestful appreciation of learning about the future sustainability of our communities and natural environment.  

July took students on an Adventure beyond the garden basics. With two months for each cohort of Stewards - June and July, each of the four weeks was focused on learning about the state of the earth from our human impact, and how each person is able and responsible to make small steps for change.

Students spent a week at a time, learning about conventional agricultural practices vs. local/sustainable farming, available, green space in San Francisco, energy and water resource consumption, and how to make a difference in our place, in San Francisco.  Our students took these concepts and their understanding of the cohesiveness of the world we live in, to new heights.

Congratulations Eco-Art Interns !

We cannot thank you enough for all of your help, intelligent inquiry, and laughter; You are amazing! 

"We want to thank you for giving our daughter a chance to be a part of the summer work force at A Living Library. She came home with lots of recipes to try out on our family and thoughts about taking care of our planet. She was also proud of the art projects she had created and it helped push our family toward a more environmentally friendly lunchtime packing model because we have stopped buying the plastic sandwich bags and we now use a plastic sandwich box container. Little steps for the future. Thanks again!" - Parent of A.L.L. Eco-Art Intern

     

These 5 gentlemen joined A Living Library Eco-Art Internship through the San Francisco MYEEP (Mayor's Youth Education and Employment Program).

Thank you guys so much, for all your hard work here at the Living Library Gardens. Your team spirit, high levels of responsibility and work quality, and endless good energy and questions, made the summer a truly amazing experience. 

     

Our MYEEP workers' final project was to construct a green house for scratch, and look at what amazing workmanship turned out. A translucent plastic cover is all that it needs. 

     

Seasonal summer crops brought some bright action and appetizing food creations to our Living Library Gardens including Fresh Mint and Parsley Tabouli, Spring Rolls, and Sun Tea. 

Each week the A.L.L. Internship Team was put to the test.  As the weeks went on,  Team Challenges became more and more difficult.  Strategy, cooperation, and communication were needed to complete each task. Look at the trust our Interns show in each other. 

     

 A lesson on San Francisco Greening brought light to the idea that gardens do not have to be horizontal chunks of land. Gardens can be build on a wall, on a door step, even a window sill. Student Stewards use reclaimed wood to create their own garden boxes to take home with them. 

     

     

Scientific experiments were prolific this session as students learned to question,  How do plants absorb resources ? What tools can be created to filter polluted water ? How can the sun cook food ? And, Why are my Flamin' Hot Cheetos on Fire ? As on of our interns said, in the words of Alicia Keys... "This Cheetos' on Fire! This Cheetos' on Fire!"  

     

     

 And, REACH The Future visits A Living Library to teach about energy conservation and green technology!

And, before these big changes happened this July, earlier in the Spring, much was also accomplished. 

Follow students through their preparation and success of their first Farmers Stand.  A Free Farmer's Market offering healthy, seasonal  food, flowers, potted plants, and seeds to local students and families was instituted.  Our students learned that their hard work was a major active step to combat "food deserts" in urban communities.  Fresh, nutritious, affordable, food options are not always available, and students worked together to understand, and remedy environmental and social change in our local community. And, as the practice of A Living Library and permaculture suggest, the earth is bountiful, and bounty should be shared. 

A Living Library is Cultivating the Human & Ecological Garden !

             

     

      

      

To celebrate the completion of their 8 week intensive, A.L.L. Eco-Art Internship, we took a hike. Another 4 hour, 5 mile hike that is. This time we saw San Francisco from above, in the hilltops of John McLaren Park. If you have not yet had the chance to visit, it is another one of San Francisco's hidden green treasures!

Thanks for joining us on this epic adventure, check back next month for more fun from, and for, A.L.L.  !!

Blog post written by A Living Library Garden Instructor, Courtney Calkins. 

 

As May was the last month of the 2012-2013 school year our Student Stewards found it fitting to celebrate with a Spring Harvest & Feast. We had already decided upon an assortment of garden delights such as lemon and mint tea infused with rose petals, Spring-Spring Rolls with a savory peanut dipping sauce, and a table adorned with bright, edible nasturtiums. We wanted something that shouted out about the sweet success of successfully completing the first year of middle school.

I screamed, they screamed, we all screamed for Ice Cream !

Mouthfuls of Mint Ice Cream became the OMI/Excelsior Branch Living Library & Think Park Meal of the Month! What ingredients from the garden would make a great flavor addition ? The marvelous mint, a plant that no Marvel super villain could ever stomp on and destroy. This recipe became a great learning experiment, not only of the chemistry of iced cream, but also the equations for a healthy body, environment, and food choices.

      

We tried to keep our ingredients as sustainable as possible, to bring up discussion about the real costs of food. We said, Do the best you can with choices offered at your local grocery store.  Ask yourself, Where are the ingredients grown/processed? 

We chose organic dairy cream and milk from a family farm in Petaluma, CA, just 40 miles away from San Francisco ! Fresh, delicious dairy cream can be found all over the Bay Area, easily within a 100 mile distance.  Can you visit your dairy cows or goats on a weekend trip ? (This is actually a fantastic family weekend vacation. Check out local family farms near you that may have visiting hours or classes!)

Is your sugar and vanilla from a distant country or as near as Hawaii ? Try looking at a list of ingredients on a typical ice cream carton at your grocery store- How does it compare to the 5 simple ingredients below? What substitutions can be made to make this moooing delight healthier? Another great question to ask is, Who does your money support with each ingredient you purchase?

Simply asking yourself questions like these, is the first step towards more sustainable food choices. Step 2 is your choice -                   Is a healthier body, community, and environment worth the cost?

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream or half and half

• 1 cup milk (full, low, or non-fat milk will work, but this is not a low calorie snack any way you spin it)

• ¾ cup sugar, organic granulated

• 1 tbs vanilla

• 2 cups mint, fresh picked, minced - our garden’s chocolate mint creates a smooth creamy flavor

   

-Skip the following steps if you have an ice cream machine- if not...

• 4 cups salt, ice cream or large grain Kosher Salt for best outcome

• 1 bag of ice, 7 lbs

• 2 gallon plastic bags, with water-locking seals

• gloves or mittens!

Directions:

This is where the fun begins. Take all of your ice cream ingredients and add them into a plastic zip-loc-type bag. Gently knead all the ingredients in the bag to mix and mash. Be careful not to make any holes!

Fill your second bag ⅓ full of ice and 2 cups salt. Then place your closed ice cream ingredient bag into the salted ice bag. Add another layer of ice and 2 cups salt on top of the ice cream layer.  Zip the second bag closed.

Put on your mitts, and Shake it on Babe, Now, Twist and Shout ! It is your job to shake your ice cream bag from liquid to solid form.

As the heat from the inner ice cream bag is being absorbed, the ice will melt. The salt is a key ingredient, because it lowers the freezing point of your ice (i.e. makes it even colder).  You can relate this to salting roads in snowy, winter wonderlands. If wet roads usually freeze and cause you to slip at 32° F, adding salt will prohibit your surface from freezing until 27°F. A few degrees goes a long way for ice cream.

  

Keep that bag mooooovvvving until your ice cream has firmed up to the texture of soft serve. Remove your ice cream bag from your salt and ice mix, open it up, and enjoy the sweet success of a job well done. Forget the bowls - this garden delight will be gone before you can say Mouthful of Mint.  For harder ice cream, place only the ice cream bag in a freezer for 1-2 hours.