2009 Summer Program Cookbook

The 2009 Cookbook is now available, check out all the fabulous recipes from the summer program. Each day the students would prepare a tasty and nutritious lunch for their peers, staff and volunteers. This proved to be one of the favorite parts of the program with everyone enjoying a delicious feast after a day in the garden. Now you can try their recipes at home!

To download your own copy of the cookbook click here.

For pictures from the 2009 program click here

Message from the Youth

This year in the Summer Program we've taken our curriculum to the next level -- more interactivity and almost no sitting still! We've turned group discussions into opportunities for creativity, drama, music, and lots of role-playing to practice sharing what we learn here with our friends and family at home.

Today, youth taught each other about the 3 R's (reuse, reduce, recycle) through different written formats, which they then performed dramatically!

The crowd-favorite team (the Pink Panthers) composed a love letter to a garbage collector. (That's "Oscar" in the foreground reacting to his letter, as "Cordelia" reads aloud to the audience what she has written.)

Dearest Oscar (The Grouch),

My love, it is with great sadness that I write you this. Despite the beautiful times we shared, when I would bring you my empty chip bags and old DVDs, it is time our affair came to a close. Much as I adore you, I'm due to marry the head of the recycling plant next week. And the truth is, he lives a cleaner, more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Don't take this the wrong way. The times we shared will never be replaced. It's not you baby, it's the waste.

Always yours truly,
Cordelia Compost

P.S. Please don't be grouchy.

The runner-up team (Yellow Canaries) wrote a text message conversation between a Plastic Bottle and the Ocean:

PB: What's up, Pacific?
W: Nutn much, Geyser.
PB: Guess what?
W: What! What? What?
PB: Some dude drank ma stuff! I'm hella mad! Can I get a refill?
W: Na bruh! U and ur friends wrecked ma house last time u came. U ain't welcome here no more.
PB: Not even! That was Aquafina!
W: It don't matter ur all the same!
PB: Fine I'll go talk to Atlantic! Meany!
W: Deuces!

Summer Youth Lead the Way

Urban Sprouts' Summer Program at the Garden for the Environment is in full swing! We have more youth at work than ever before - 8 high school youth are leading the program for 18 middle school youth. We adults can now sit back and watch them go . . . The two youth Garden Managers set up and run all the gardening activities, and the rest of the youth staff and participants show off their cooking talents, gardening knowledge, and general ecological role model-ness daily. We are so impressed!

If only the whole world would follow the example of these amazing young people -- in their community-mindedness, their dedication to caring for the environment, and their desire to make the world a better place! Plus, this group of actors and comedians has me tearing up with laughter every day. Who can ask for more! A special shout out to our inspiring youth staff members Anthony, Augie, Jessica, Julius, Lupe, Michael, Sophia and Walter!

More photos HERE and HERE!!

MLK's New Greenhouse

The Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School garden is now home to a new greenhouse. We are so excited to be able to produce our own starts and incorporate the greenhouse into our garden curriculum.
In other exciting MLK news the San Francisco Conservation Corps will begin work today on our garden expansion project!! The corps members will be building new beds, bringing in soil, mulching, and building benches for our garden classroom. Stay tuned for pictures and updates about the expansion!