- Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program

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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Saturday June 2, Meet in the Garden
by Molly Phemister 29 May '24

29 May '24

Hello relatives! I hope last weekend was restorative, both because time with family and friends is nourishing, and because we have work to do. The gardens are really beginning to move. We have more to plant (and weed), we need to label what we have, and we need to make some decisions about the space that remains. This does push trellis construction back a week, but don't worry- we have that space at this moment. We'll begin this Saturday in the garden at 9 am. Rain is predicted both Thursday and Friday, so anticipate getting MUDDY. Long pants, closed toe shoes, and you may even want a long sleeve for the first hour- it almost always feels colder after a rain. We'll start with noticing and celebrating that which is going right, and then we'll make some decisions to help move things that are maybe not working out quite as well as we'd hoped in to a direction that we, the gardeners, like better. A side note to decode a term you may have heard being tossed about: Often, we are talking about the Turtle clan's quadrant of our garden, you are hearing us reference last year's milpa trial, but I don't know that we've explained that very well. Milpa is a Náhuatl word, Nahuatl being an indigenous trade language spoken by a wide number of peoples in central America, notably both the Aztecs and the Maya, of whom there are many in Nebraska now. Milpa actually means something more like "that which is sown in the field" or "the things we planted", but today the term milpa is a reference less to the specific crops and more to the planting technique / technology (know how) that allows (encourages!) the various plants to all grow together in a somewhat chaotic mini-ecology. Here's a Nebraska look at milpa gardening with Graham Christiansen of GCResolve (an environmentally oriented farmer education organization) and Luis Marcos of Pixan Ixim, the Mayan Community Center in Omaha. There's a link in here for free milpa seeds (in the future- if you want these now, I have them) https://youtu.be/zBDqQzqbyww?si=Gmm_VKBaCOsvYmkW And here's another look at a milpa project at one of the Wasatch Community Garden in Salt Lake City (Wasatch there is somewhat like Community Crops here): https://youtu.be/PEY8omjVlD8?si=1SwMOD6qjWs3uw_b See you Saturday, Molly

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NO CLASS MEMORIAL WEEKEND
by Molly Phemister 21 May '24

21 May '24

Good morning, relatives! Due to the Memorial Day weekend and the number of high school graduations that various families are attending, we're cancelling class for Saturday, May 25. I do encourage you to bring your family past the garden at some point over the weekend to show off your amazing work. Also, you can feel good about the plants that we have not planted in the ground yet- as you know, we sent several dozen to the retirement home on O St two weeks ago, then last week several dozen more went to the Turtle Island Earth Day Festival at Woods Park, and now today, a couple dozen are also going to be given away to families in the HeadStart program. We haven't even gotten into the harvest seasons yet and your work is already improving the health and wellness of a huge number of local families. What a great feeling, eh? Most of the clan groups on our site planted Hopi blue corn two weekends ago (except Bear clan, they planted Painted Hill, which is a hybrid child of Painted Mountain). Check out this video of Hopi farmer Michael Kotutwa Johnson explaining the millennia old traditional planting techniques that he uses to grow corn each year. Notice how the people, the plants, and the planting technique have adapted to each other- this corn is unique in a way that is very meaningful to the Hopi. https://youtu.be/28gAFESNGMU?si=wuU1k6bOmwaYY_Ya See you June 2 in the garden! Molly

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Saturday May 18th
by Molly Phemister 16 May '24

16 May '24

Hello relatives! I'm looking forward to seeing you out at the garden site this weekend. While long pants and close toes shoes are still very helpful, it's definitely getting hotter out. Consider sunscreen and bug spray and a water bottle as you prepare for your morning. There's more planting this weekend (tomatoes!!), including more direct seeding (beans!!), but we also have to talk about every gardener's low key nemesis: weeds. Don't worry, I have Ideas. So does Robin Wall Kimmerer: check out chapter 9 for her story about the swimming pond / duck pond puzzle. It's a relevant read this week. See you Saturday! Molly

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May 11 garden plan PLUS volunteer opportunity
by Molly Phemister 08 May '24

08 May '24

Hello relatives, our plant friends in the field look good, and our plant friends in the greenhouse would like to go out to the field! Some of them will be able to go to our garfen with us this Saturday. Let's begin at the greenhouse, but plan to mostly be in the field. The irrigation is on and we do not have enough mulch, so it will be a bit gummy on our shoes, please dress accordingly. We also have a wonderful opportunity this weekend to have a representative from each clan join me at a Senior living facility on O Street near 66th to tell them about our program, and to donate two or three dozen of our plants to their own gardening efforts. We will select what goes to them together Saturday morning, and then take them over after lunch. See you Saturday! Molly

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Pick up on 5/4 will be Plant Sciences
by Molly Phemister 04 May '24

04 May '24

Good morning, in case I don't catch you at drop off, I wanted to let you know that we will be ending the morning over at Plant sciences, which is where the students met commonly at the very beginning of the year. Although a picnic lunch in the field is Usually a delightful way to end, it is wet windy and cold out there, so we will be having lunch over at Plant sciences hall. Thank you! Molly

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Saturday is in the Garden
by Molly Phemister 01 May '24

01 May '24

Hello! We missed you last week. Hopefully all that was in turmoil last weekend has been set to rights now? Many thanks to all of you for your flexibility last weekend. The plants you seeded a few weeks ago and looking great! Are you excited to get them in the ground? This weekend we will begin in the greenhouse, working with our clans to make some very specific plans for the season. We'll select a few plants in there to come out to the garden with us, then walk over to the gardens, pin down our irrigation, and get some things in the ground- both the plants we selected, and hopefully some direct seed too. There may be some early weeds to take care of, so please plan to get dirty- long pants, closed toe shoes. We will also be discussing the excerpt Louise directed our attention to last weekend, so please plan to come with intention to listen to each other and make observations. (from Louise's note last weekend: "This is a great opportunity to spend some time with your copy of Braiding Sweetgrass. Please read the Maple Sugar Moon chapter, pages 63 – 71. After reading, please consider a question that Dr. Kimmerer (the author) asks: If we think about the earth bestowing us with a responsibility to harvest her gifts in honorable ways, how might you reimagine the production of natural resources in your area?”) See you soon, Molly

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Saturday Morning Class Cancelled
by Louise Lynch-O'Brien 26 Apr '24

26 Apr '24

Good evening! I hope this finds everyone well and safe. Because of weather forecasts tomorrow in the late morning and early afternoon, our Saturday morning class is cancelled. This is a great opportunity to spend some time with your copy of Braiding Sweetgrass. Please read the Maple Sugar Moon chapter, pages 63 – 71. After reading, please consider a question that Dr. Kimmerer (the author) asks: If we think about the earth bestowing us with a responsibility to harvest her gifts in honorable ways, how might you reimagine the production of natural resources in your area?” We’ll chat about your responses next week. Have a beautiful day! Kind regards, Louise 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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