June 2024 - Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program

Saturday will be gorgeous!
by Molly Phemister 27 Jun '24

27 Jun '24

We will start this Saturday in the garden with our typical circle, greeting of the land, and setting of intentions, but for some portion of the morning this weekend, we will also be accompanied by a film crew from the local news. They would like to film y'all working in the garden a bit, and I think they would like to talk to several of you about the program . I will try to have red bandannas available for anybody who does NOT want to be on TV but just in case I don't have quite enough, wear some sort of red shirt if you do NOT want to be on TV. That will make it easy for the camera folks to recognize when they have the wrong people in the frame, and they can just move the camera over. I hope you are all still reading in Braiding Sweetgrass? We are coming to the end of the spring workaholic season, at some point soon there will be a hot gross Saturday on which we skip the garden and go back inside to talk about the things that we can learn from Kimmerer's words. If you have developed a favorite chapter or section, let Ted or I know. We can talk about that reading as a group Here is your standard reminder to wear a long pants, clothes toed shoes, a little bit of bug spray, a little bit of sunscreen. You're welcome to wear a hat, I will certainly be in mine. **NEW REMINDER: Please plan to be here until noon.** The act of sitting down to a meal together is a foundational community building moment that I promise will pay dividends in your life that there is no way for any of us to predict at this point. You might be 30 or 40 years old, and then somebody that you had lunch with here will suddenly be the person that says the thing, or has the skill, or knows the other person, and it absolutely pivots how things are going for you, for the better. Molly

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Saturday June 22, start in the garden
by Molly Phemister 20 Jun '24

20 Jun '24

Good morning relatives, You'll be meeting Ted in the garden this week, I need to take care of some family things so I will be missing. Last week we started on trellises, but we didnt get very far. We are doing trellises because your tomato plants are going to be about as big as you are Soon, but they will fall over without help. I am attaching some drawings. Notice how far into the ground the end posts go. On the drawing of the single string and the Florida weave patterns I've only drawn a single end post, but you could do two sticks Together to form a Triangle for your end post instead, that might be stronger in our wind. Ask each other questions, together You will be able to figure out many things even if they don't quite make sense to you immediately When you are by yourself. I am proud of you, the gardens are coming along beautifully. The only two weeds I would worry about this week are the amaranth and the velvet leaf, and that is because those two are going to go to seed very soon. Other than those two, I would focus all of your weeding efforts on clearing the space around the plants that you have intended to have. I'll be back soon, be kind to Lala and the Christians, Molly

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Starting in the Garden June 15
by Molly Phemister 12 Jun '24

12 Jun '24

Hello relatives! It's FINALLY trellis week!* Our trellising sister corn is coming up and the climbing sister beans are nearby. We may well add some more (can't have too many beans- stored properly, they can last decades), but I'll also teach you several different trellis systems and a couple of knots useful for a few other plants. I'm hopeful that you'll teach me some things too. Ask your elders- how did they trellis beans or tomatoes or other plants when they were young? What do they know about how their parents or grandparents did this? What was the material they used? How did they make sure it stood up to the weather? Did they like this chore? Or really resent it? I'm looking forward to your stories! We will start in the garden this Saturday. Long pants and closed toe shoes, please. Hats, sunscreen, and bug spray are all encouraged too. *Small caveat: at this point we are predicted to have a gorgeous morning Saturday morning after a thunderstorm the night before. If that prediction shifts the wrong way, we will adjust our plans and you will hear about it from Ted or I here before 9 pm Friday night. See you Saturday, Molly [https://ucomm.unl.edu/images/email-signature/Nebraska_N_RGB_small_on_white.…] Molly Phemister 3110 North 40th St Lincoln NE, 68506

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Saturday 6/8
by Molly Phemister 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Hello relatives! Let's meet at the greenhouse on Saturday morning first to grab whatever remaining plants from in here we want to have go out into our garden. We can start fresh stuff for the autumn planting in early July, but that is easiest done with a blank slate. After we've selected what remaining plants need to go out, we will walk over to the garden and there we have a couple of tasks including trellis building, weeding, and some exciting selection opportunities between cover crop mixes. Saturday morning is going to be gorgeously cool, wearing long pants and closed toe shoes will go along way for keeping you comfortable as we move about the garden. A thin long sleeve shirt could be a good idea, if not, please do wear some bug spray. You always see me in my hat, and encourage you to wear a hat as well, the goal here is a bit of sun protection for your face and reduced strain on your eyes. This is the only face and the only eyes that you get, and you're gonna want them when you're 80 too. We got really great work done last week, I'm super jazzed about the way things are going, I hope you are proud of the work you've been doing. Each Saturday we end with a bit of lunch together, and I'm going to encourage you to add some lettuce or other herbs from our garden to your sandwiches this weekend. We asked Mother Earth to provide, and she is definitely responding well. Molly

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Keep 'bugging out' while Louise is away...
by Louise Lynch-O'Brien 02 Jun '24

02 Jun '24

Greetings everyone! I hope you're all excited for the upcoming summer weeks of our program! I wanted to let you know that I will be out of town for the next four weeks. I know you’re going to have a great time and learn lots with Ted, Molly, Christian S., and Christian E. While I'm away, I encourage you to explore our garden and look for insect relatives. June is a busy time for many insects, so there's plenty to see. Pay special attention to the bee houses and observe the various insect activities around you. Bees are particularly active now, setting up their nests. If you look to the east of the garden, you'll see the white honey bee hives. Remember, honey bees are just one of the 4,000-5,000 bee species in North America. Keep an eye out for other bees visiting our herbs and flowers. Some may be gathering soil for their nests, while others might visit the large pine tree for resin. The mulch we use creates a nice humid microhabitat for them (termites, pill bugs, worms, earwigs, small beetles and true bugs, spiders, etc.). There will be insects in our greenhouse, too – so keep an eye out there as well. The lady beetle larvae feeding on aphids and/or other insects on the pine tree (and occasionally dropping onto our picnic table) will soon be pupating. If you find any larvae on the table, please move them back to the tree trunk so they can continue their work. Feel free to share some watermelon with them before moving them. I would really love to see what you discover! Please photograph any insects you find and share them on our iNaturalist page where I can help you identify them. You can also text the photos to me at 402-327-1574. FYI – there is a macro clip on lens hanging in the shed (to the right when you open doors) to help you take close up photos of what/who you see in the garden. Additionally, I wanted to encourage you to share your photos on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Ted, Molly, and I share photos there, and we'd love to see the program from your perspective as well. Enjoy your time in the garden and greenhouse. Happy planting, happy growing and happy insect hunting! Facebook: this is a private group. Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/298729175783366 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoopatunl/ iNaturalist project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/hoop-of-learning-garden-at-unl Kind regards, Louise Dr. Louise I. Lynch-O’Brien (she/her/hers) Assistant Professor of Insect Biology & Insect Science Program Coordinator, Nebraska One Health Extension Coordinator University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Entomology ENTO 109E, Lincoln, NE 68583-0816 llynchobrien(a)unl.edu<mailto:llynchobrien@unl.edu> Call/text: 402-327-1574

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2024

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Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program June 2024