Think & Eat Green Summer Institute

50 teachers from the Vancouver School District gathered for the Think & Eat Green inaugural Summer Institute held in The Orchard Garden.  Over the past 3 days this group participated in multiple workshops on basic gardening skills as well as curriculum integration of garden-based learning.  With a focus on sustainability and food security, this conference was inspired by the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California and is unique to the city of Vancouver.  The response was overwhelmingly positive.

On the third day Veronica Gaylie led a workshop on Ecopoetry- the following poems were created spontaneously in the garden.

The heart of Fava --- Julia

I have seen your roots

nodes swollen, bloody

But now I stand, eye-to-eye

trying to understand, know,

love, become you

You, tall like me,

One amongst many

Staring down the length of

your thick, 4-sided stem

From our dizzying height

I nibble your brie-y leaves

faint fuzzy untouched

by the aphids to come

How to describe your

improbable flowers?

beckoning dark delights

gentle strokes  on

shimmering wings?

Between you, me, the bee

traversing transparent air

I bite, chew, swallow green juices

She sucks les jus des fleurs.

O Fava! – Susan 

Consider the bean, the fava

Flower like a white fly

With obscene purple-black heart

Perched in the crotch of branches

On that unnaturally squared-off stem.

Congregations of matte green leaves

Crowded into existence;

Backwash of a wispy green tendril

Ducktailing behind.

This is the Chicago of beans,

Brash, raucous, masculine, shoving

Firmly erect

Crowded

Unrefined

Weatherproof

Tough

The second city of the beans.

The Heart of Fava - Stephanie

Leaves are fabric smooth; a very well-dressed plant

Patter of little ladybug feet and oozing aphids...

The greens coat my tongue with fabulous oils

And the smell is just as rich – like stew

A lovely garden dinner was served for 70 people on Wednesday evening, complete with bouquets and produce from the garden.

Surely the first of many Summer Institutes to come- this year's was blessed with sunshine and an incredible community of educators.