Volunteering at Bayer Farm will not be a one time thing! Even after working there on a drizzly, cool Saturday afternoon when most others are snuggled under the covers watching movies and sleeping in, I can say that I will be there again on another Saturday with a shovel in my hand! Walking out to the site at Bayer Farm, a 6-acre urban farm and city park in the largely Latino area of Roseland in a part of Santa Rosa, the smell of wet soil and sight of mini garden plots and bright painted mini tool sheds got me all wound up to see what work I would be digging my hands into!
This community garden serves 30 families with individual land plots and gives lessons to children from the elementary school down the street. Bayer Farm teaches kids how to plant, compost, harvest, pick and even cook their own food so that they can go home and bring a healthy and more affordable way of living into the household. The rest of the 6-acres of land are gardens for the public so that people passing by or coming home from downtown Santa Rosa can pick up some fresh produce and support Bayer Farm’s mission. I really believe that their goal to reach into the Roseland community and educate families and children about how to eat healthy while sustaining the Earth is a crucial lesson that needs to be learned around the world. In a time when people’s pockets are running dry and obesity is increasing more than ever, we really must get back to the root of things and learn how to make use of our own yards and back away from processed, preservative fast foods. Children leave Bayer Farm with knowledge to grow their own food at home and cook up a delicious and nutritious meal!
Now that Bayer Farm can begin to prepare for spring harvesting, some dirty work was needed to be done. Although the work I did may not be glamorous to a lot of people, I loved getting my hands in the dirt and smelling the nutrients pour out of the soil that the rain had delivered. I mostly did weeding, mulching and compost. For those who are new to gardening or getting their hands dirty, mulching is when a protective covering of organic material is laid over soil to prevent erosion, retain moisture and enrich the soil even further. Compost is a mixture of decayed and organic plant materials that are reused as fertilizers. I worked with Magdalena, the Community Outreach specialist who is bilingual and helped develop the Spanish Outreach Program for Bayer Farm. Working with Magdalena made the work even more fun and worth the while because you could tell that she truly puts her whole heart into the Bayer Farm Project and believes that they are making positive changes within the Roseland neighborhood.
After a few hours of hard work at Bayer Farm I was ready for a hot shower and a big, green salad! As I walked away from the farm and observed all the tall green plants and vegetable rows, I could only imagine the fun, growth and community bonding that is yet to come in the spring! I will definitely be there for the harvest, hopefully digging my hands into fresh vegetable gardens and flowers instead of weeds and soil.
Go help, Go volunteer, Go GREEN!
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