Summer Gardening

Ethan, Erik, Klair, and Tyler have an ambitious plan for next year that requires a lot of preparatory work this summer: they're going to see if they can feed themselves. That is, once the school year starts, they are going to try eating only food that they've grown, raised, or scavenged.







This summer, they are at school early in the morning about three times a week working on getting a head start. They've already planted several kinds of beans (black eyed peas, Colorado River beans, Bisbee beans, teppary, and pinto beans), along with some amaranth, teff, corn and sorghum, using compost they started a long time ago. They're also busy preparing more gardens and helping with the greenhouse construction. Once the school year starts, they hope that the tilapia in the the fish tanks will be significantly bigger, and they will each have a chicken to provide eggs.

"Scavenging" doesn't mean they'll be looking for uneaten lunchables in the lunchtime garbage ( I asked). It means they'll be on the lookout for all kinds of harvesting opportunities -- from mesquite beans this summer to unwanted citrus next winter.


Producing the food is really only the beginning. They know they're going to have to learn how to prepare it, and learn enough about nutrition to keep their diet balanced. They've given themselves some wiggle room -- they don't have to produce beverages or spices, and they'll supplement their diets if they find they're missing an important nutrient.

Erik and Tyler were taking a break, scarfing down bagels and cream cheese, when I talked to them this morning. "It's a lot of work, but we're getting excited about it," Tyler said. "If we're miserable, we'll all be miserable together," Erik added.