- Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program

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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Saturday morning, 4/27
by Molly Phemister 26 Apr '24

26 Apr '24

Hello, everybody! At this moment, the Saturday morning forecast looks clear, but I expect the field will be MUDDY. Please wear shoes and pants that can get muddy, really muddy, and please dress warmly. It will feel colder than you expect in the field this weekend. Good news: we're planting! We will begin in the garden pinning down the irrigation tubing and giving each clan time to make a starter plan for their plantings, then we'll walk over to the greenhouse and select our plants to take to the field, pause briefly to take care of a few other tasks, and then walk back over to the garden to do the actual planting. We'll finish up with a "mini-field trip" down the hill to visit some plant relatives that voted themselves onto campus and learn a bit about their important role in many of the indigenous cultures of the great plains (elders are welcome for the whole day, but may be particularly interested in this portion.) Then lunch and communing together: community building matters. Molly PS- yes, if the morning becomes rainy, we may make a collective decision to retreat to the greenhouse and work in there instead. Gardens do not like to be walked on in the rain.

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test message
by Molly Phemister 25 Apr '24

25 Apr '24

Trying this out Molly

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IYSFP Saturday April 20, 2024
by Louise Lynch-O'Brien 19 Apr '24

19 Apr '24

Hau Relatives! We’re looking forward seeing you all tomorrow morning. We will meet in the greenhouse at 9 AM to work on transplanting some of our plants. I think you’ll notice quite a bit of growth since you were last there. We will then head over to the garden and lay out our mulch pathways. Lunch will be in the garden as well. Here’s a gentle reminder of where we each are in our medicine wheel garden design: * Bear Clan – North * Sunflower Clan – South * Turtle Clan - East * Elder Clan – West It’ll be a little chilly tomorrow morning - low to mid 40s – please wear some layers so you are warm enough when we are outside. Also – the UNL Intertribal Exchange is holding its Annual Honoring of the Graduates Pow Wow on City Campus. Grand Entry is at 1 PM. Honoring of the Graduates is at 3 PM. Visitors are asked to bring their own chairs. See the attached image for more information. Kind regards, Louise [A poster for a ceremony Description automatically generated] 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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Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program