July 29, 2009

This is the thirty-fifth day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at Tuskegee University's Green house.


Watermelon is not only great on a hot summer day, this delectable thirst-quencher may also help quench the inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis. It's being touted as so healthful it should be stored in your medicine chest.

Sweet, juicy watermelon is packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature. It is an excellent source of vitamin C, and is also a very good source of vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals.

A watermelon's delectable flesh has no cholesterol and virtually no fat (almost none of which is saturated) — a stellar accomplishment for a food often served as a dessert at picnics. A whole cup of watermelon contains only 48 calories.

July 28, 2009

This is the thirty-fourth day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at Tuskegee University's Green house.

H-A-R-V-E-S-T TIME HAS COME AGAIN!
There was more fruits and vegetables to harvest this time. The crops ranged from watermelons to okras. Some of the other crops were the tomatoes and peppers.

July 21, 2009

This is the thirty-third day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at one of the two City of Tuskegee Nursing Homes and Tuskegee University Green house.

What is a Nursing Home?
A residential facility for persons with chronic illness or disability, particularly older people who have mobility and eating problems. Also called a convalescent home, long-term care facility.

That's exactly where I started today's work task. The nursing home is Magnolia Haven and there they have 77 certified beds and 73 residents. For the resident we--research assistants--saw the need to establish a raised garden bed for the residents. The residents can view the plants outside their window 24 hours and 7 days of the week. We planted corn, watemelon, strawberry, okra, flowers, peas, and beans.

July 15, 2009

This is the thirty-second day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at Tuskegee University Greenhouse.

GROWTH HAS BEGUN!
The Gourd has been used by man as far back as we can tell, since the very beginning. A gourd grew over Jonah to shade him from the heat as God used this vegetable to teach Jonah a lesson about forgiveness. Pottery and utensils dating back to prehistory may well have been fashioned and made after the shape and uses of gourds.

We are not going to be using the gourd to shade anyone but we will be using the gourds for a future project with the children of SafeHaven to make birdhouses and other decorative items.

July 10, 2009

This is the thirty-first day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at Tuskegee University Greenhouse.

H-A-R-V-E-S-T TIME! Those are the words that explain one of today's task. After caring for the previously planted plants, the research assistant--Ashton and Morgan--and I were able to harvest corn. We gathered over eight full bags of this yellow, sweet corn. The hard work, patience, and time put into that part of the Youth Garden Project paid-off this day. It was a bigger benefit as we were able to donate the corn to the children of SafeHaven.

Pictured Above: a small frog I discovered on a leaf of the corn rows we were harvesting.

July 8, 2009

Today is the thirty day marker as a research assistant with the Youth Garden Project. It was a B-A-N-G!! Today's location was at the Lee County community garden and community market.

It was exciting and informative! The Lee County community garden gave me ideas of how to better support the position of the plants at Tuskegee University's Greenhouse--especially the tomato plants. I harvested okra, red and green tmatoes. I helped Ashton pick green tomatoes and we were allowed to take them home. "Yummy yummy in my tommy!" Before Ashton, Morgan, and I arrived at the garden, the junior interns harvested the squash. The food harvested at the community garden is taken to the food bank where is distributed among the qualified need-based citizens of Lee County.

At the community market, Ms. Elise Loft[market director]gave us a some brief background information on the market. She told us that qualified families that have a household of 2-3 indivduals can recieve 100 pounds worth of food. She also encourage to volunteer espcailly on Fridays and/or Saturdays because of the increase in traffic flow into the market on those days.

July 1, 2009

This is the twenty-ninth day of my research assistant role of the Youth Garden Project. Today's location was at Tuskegee University Chambliss Building (old business bldg).

The YMCA program children meet once again with us for a few minutes of an arts & crafts session. The portrait the children was given to create was an image of any type of fruits, vegetables, and/or flowers. The activity was so engaging that some of the social work interns gave it a try. The end result was some amazing pieces the children created. The fun didn't stop there!

After the small art & crafts sessions the children was given an opportunity to engage in a game of Red Light, Green Light.

Later that same day, I created four ladybug rocks. I also attend the junior interns' seminar class that is scheduled from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM to make sure the interns' portfolios were organized properly and to make note of any missing materials.