There has been a growing demand and interest in local, sustainable farming and organic produce. However, most of us are still unfamiliar with where our produce comes from, and the people who grow our food. This project aims to facilitate dialogue between San Diegans and the passionate, dedicated people working in local farms and community gardens who are making a difference in our communities.

Posts by cristalchen

“Farming can be done in your kitchen by your windowsill.”

By on February 25, 2014

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Amy Hooker, Garden Teacher, Albert Einstein Academy, San Diego

 

“Not having a farm shouldn’t stop one from growing his/her own vegetables. It can be done on your kitchen counter. Kids can grow alfalfa, sunflowers, and seed sprouts.”

“Not having acres and acres of land shouldn’t stop you from farming. Farming can be done in many other ways. I think that everybody can benefit from growing their own food at whatever scale they can grow their own food. Many of the students complain because they don’t have a yard at their house…they live in an apartment, they walk down the sidewalk into their house, there’s not enough sunlight to grow anything in their apartment, and what are they going to do?”

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“So we do a lesson where we show students how to sprout alfalfa sprouts or sunflower seed sprouts just in an old produce container with the top flipped up and holes in it. They can set it on any windowsill in the house on a plate, and then they can cut and eat those sprouts. So, that’s the smallest scale, all you need is a window that gets sun and you can just scale it from there. No, I don’t think you need to have a giant farm, you can grow tomatoes in a pot on your patio and eat them. You’re not going to sustain yourself of course, but you can enjoy them.”

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“When I was a kid, we used to garden all the time.”

By on February 18, 2014


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Samuel & Daniela Mejia, Community Farmers, Imperial Beach Community Garden, Imperial Beach

“When I was a kid, we used to garden all the time. We used to grow tomatoes and all kinds of stuff, like chayotes. We had tons of fruit trees. Everywhere we went, even if it was a little apartment, we’d have pots and herbs and something growing there – even if it was ferns or something. I would always be there trimming. My mom would say that I would give the plants haircuts. That’s why I wanted to do it, because I wanted to do different styles like Edward Scissorhands, that was the best movie. That’s when I really got into it, when I was trimming at the plants. Pretty fun.”

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“I really want my daughter to understand the joy of growing your own food and the health benefit of it, and knowing that something sweet can come from a vine just as much as it can come from a store. And knowing that she’ll always have something to fall back on if she needs to, like in case of a global depression or no resources.”

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“Even making preserves and being able to keep what she has for as long as she can. That, to me, is really important…that she can grow up learning to farm and then teach it to her children. It’s very important for us to keep teaching what we don’t teach anymore, which is the basics of gardening and keeping ourselves alive during the winter and not having to rely on anything else like store bought pizza sauce.”

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