Earth School at the Urban Farm
A stone’s throw from Clayton College, students of all ages are breathing in the natural aromatherapy of herbs, sensing the higher vibration of stewardship while cradling a homegrown tomato in their hand or collecting pecans from stately trees a hundred years old. At Jones Valley Urban Farm, a row of years-vacant downtown Birmingham lots now have new life and a new purpose. They are the first seeds of more city gardens to come.
“Reconnecting People to Food” is the exuberant slogan on hand-painted signs. Down on the farm but still in town, bus loads of middle school field-trippers scatter like ants from a red mound, curiously inspecting cornhusks and honeysuckle. Rain or shine, in the early morning you’ll find teenagers—city kids—planting, weeding, turning the soil and turning their fickle attentions toward fuzzy okra and variegated peppers.
Each week JVUF’s organic harvest of corn, potatoes, beans, and wildflowers are gathered and sold at downtown markets, teaching young people about profits, losses, planting cycles, and ethical trade. In all directions citydwellers bask in the glow of new growth in old neighborhoods.
A primitive greenhouse and a patchwork of flower beds and vegetable vines are part of what Southern Living gardening editor Edwin Marty described, several years ago, to CCNH founder Lloyd Clayton. Edwin envisioned this urban demonstration garden as the wise, green mother whose growth could spread throughout big cities and little towns.
CCNH proudly provides educational funding to help Edwin and other JVUF volunteers guest-lecture for civic groups and schools, encouraging partnerships that create gardening co-ops, reminding us of Earth’s wisdom and bounty. In addition, Edwin’s talents are available to CCNH students through NL 145 Gardening for Good Nutrition, which features organic methods for growing vegetables.
Mary Grace McCord
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