Hey all you cool cats and kittens, we're back!
We started out our day by heading to Earthworks for our first day of service. Upon arriving at the farm, we were welcomed with much enthusiasm by Tyler and Wendy, two of the permanent staff members. Wendy spent the morning talking to us about Earthworks, what they do, and how things have changed since the pandemic. Earthworks is an entity of the Capuchin Monastery here in Detroit. They have two city blocks devoted to farming and cultivating crops to support the Capuchin's soup kitchen. They are the only urban farm in the city of Detroit that is organic certified (mostly due to money and political issues). In addition to the farm and soup kitchen, the Earthworks site offers a bike repair shop and free showers. Prior to the pandemic, the soup kitchen served as a safe haven for food and socialization among the community. People could hang out between meals, get a shower, and make any needed repairs to their bikes all in the same place. Now, people have to leave the premises in between meals and the bike repair shop has been reduced to an air pump with a couple of tools. Wendy then gave us a tour of the farm, and we got to see all of the different things they have growing! Currently they are harvesting arugula, collard greens, kale, and swiss chard. After breaking for lunch, we spent the better part of a half hour trying to solve Tyler's riddles. We rounded out the rest of the day learning about the history of urban farming in Detroit. Historically, urban farming efforts have come and gone. However, for the past twenty years, urban farming through Earthworks has been a constant presence.
After a day filled with learning, we left Earthworks and visited Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River. We then spent the late afternoon reflecting and unpacking all of the things that we saw and learned over the last three days, while Kylie taught us how to make friendship bracelets. Those important conversations continued over a delicious taco dinner cooked by chefs Kylie and Kaitlin. After dinner, we ventured out to enjoy a late night ice cream treat. We had ice cream at Burk's Igloo in Hamtramck. Hamtramck is a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. We were lucky enough to be there during sundown prayer, and were surprised to hear the call to prayer being projected throughout the area. We capped off the evening with more important conversations around food, race, and justice - and a little more bracelet weaving.
Tomorrow we return to Earthworks to start planting potatoes for the fall harvest. We're so excited and looking forward to getting our hands dirty.
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