Common Good City Farm Field Trip

A Saturday Morning Exploration

Getting up early on a saturday isn't something your average college student appreciates, but in this case there is an exeption to that rule. Our visit to Common Good City Farm was different from I expected, you could tell that the people there really cared about what they were doing. They weren't working for a profit, and only 2 of the entire team are payed employees to keep the entire farm running. The farm is not that big, just the size of an old baseball field that has been given to the program to help the community. And that is what it is all about, helping the community. Talking to the volunteers there showed that they did have an interest in helping DC, which I learned has a 15% death by obesity rate. They didn't seem to mind the hard work they were doing, as I ended up helping cart weelbarrows of dirt away from the dranage ditch that would be in the center of a rain garden they received a grant to create to recycle the water that ran off of higher ground. Everyone was friendly, which sounds corny but true, they welcomed my help (what little I could do) and didn't mind my stream of questions. When they found a cool bug they showed me it;

this is a Tomato Hornworm. And although no one knew what was growing on it Google.com is a great place for answers! Those little white cooccons are parisitic wasp eggs. If it hadn't been squashed they would have had a worm that got eaten inside out by those larve (sorry if I grossed you out!)

All in all it was a educational trip (as expected: it was a school field trip after all!) but it was also inspiring to see all these people helping out the neighborhood, trying to help the environment and living satus of people who are not in easy walking distance of a food market. And for once, I dont regret not having my saturday sleep in. (after all, I still had sunday!)

Veronica Petrey