With the construction going on at 294 Sumner, it’s understandable that a lot of the neighborhood has questions about our status. I live right across the street and frequently go over to check on the progress that Restoring Roots is making or to just do a little tidying of the space. While there, I get asked the same question by passersby, “What is this going to be?”. I reassure them that it’s still run by Eastie Farm and that we’re renovating to make the space more inviting for the community. The relief is palpable, and usually followed closely by “That’s fantastic! I thought they were putting up more condos.” Since someone can’t always be outside to set the record straight, myself and a volunteer group from Suffolk University created some temporary signage for the renovation period.
While wholesale changes are happening at 294 Sumner, at Our Garden at 293 Border we’re undertaking some much needed projects that will boost community involvement and make the farm more self-sufficient. One such project is the expansion of our compost collection from Earth Machines and tumblers to a larger scale bay system that will allow for community composting in the future.
Thanks to our connection with the FoodCorps Service Member at the Mario Umana Academy, Meghan Hoyne Wingate, we’ve been able to organize multiple activities with her classes. We’ve done three lessons on composting with hopes to build something similar at the school as well as some worm bin composting!
Earlier that week, one of her classes came over to help plant some milkweed on the hill leading to Meridian Street. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed and milkweed only. In an effort to help our pollinators (who in turn help us!), Meghan had her class ready the seeds for their overwintering.
Hopefully by May or June the hillside will be covered in milkweed and Monarchs!
