Yesterday morning I spent three hours on a small organic farm in East Austin. Urban Roots is a nonprofit whose mission is to use food and farming to transform the lives of young people and inspire, engage, and nourish the community. The 3.5-acre farm serves teens and young adults through paid internships that focus on farming and leadership skills. They contribute 25,000 pounds of fresh food back to the local community each year.
I volunteered with a couple of my workers for a morning shift, first getting to the know the group and learning more food & Austin (like that five Austin zipcodes don’t have access to a full-service grocery store, staggering). We were then divided into groups to contribute to the farm. My group planted beet seeds (badger seeds and then boulder seeds). I don’t remember the last time I actually gardened, but it was meditative in a way. Place seeds one inch apart in a row, pinch the dirt over them.
I even got to try a fresh beet – apparently from a breed that is safe to eat raw – and liked it. Tasted more like a carrot.
The morning was cold when we started out but the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful morning to be outside. I felt far away from the city, and though I had to go to work for a busy afternoon right after, momentarily disconnected and able to present in the moment.
With Love,
Natalie