#growingpower

[antoniocendejas]

Day 4 - A quiet day

October 14 - With the rain picking up and having so many puddles in the area, today was spent cleaning up and organizing. We started off by getting into the basics - separating trash and recycling. There was an assortment of screws, old power tools, fans, saw blades, even window blinds, all crammed into one small indoor shed. My supervisor and I took the time to make sure everything found the correct bin, and that nothing was misplaced. Once that was cleaned up, we swept the floor since the banana tree nearby was dropping so many leaves. Once all was swept and separated, we took some rags and started scrubbing the place down. All in all, this project took about 5 hours. It was definitely one of the less physically demanding days.

[antoniocendejas]

Reflection

During my time at growing power, I’ve developed and learned a lot about nature. When I first started, I honestly didn’t know too much about what to expect. My Google searches showed they did farming, but knowing what you were going to be doing on a farm lets the imagination run a bit. The orientation cleared up many questions and gave me a better understanding of the organic growing process. While I still may not be the right person to trust when growing your flowers, I do have a much clearer understanding of how to get a garden started. My supervisor was very knowledgeable about the ecology around us, introducing me to the salmon run, worm castings and everything in between. He showed me how a line of dirt can be valued at a quarter of a million dollars. Because of this service, I finally understand the difference between dirt and soil. I was able to learn so much about plant and marine life in the short amount of time I was with them, and am happy to have had the opportunity to do some “real work” for a while. This is definitely a place I would like to revisit once I don’t have college breathing down my neck, as the environment and people around made the experience pleasant. Thanks to Growing Power for taking me in, and thanks to Service Learning for giving me the push to get started!

[antoniocendejas]

The Final Day

November 11 - My last day at Growing Power For now, at least. I came in at noon and stayed until closing (5pm). It was a good thing I came in as well, as my supervisor was up to his eyeballs in work. Since the winter was drawing near, it was time to sell off our goats and rams. Typically we just do a mass sale to a local company that will process the goats on their own, but people are allowed to come in and purchase one of the animals before we ship them off. Whenever one is purchased, we place a string around their neck to indicate that they are going off to a new home. It is a bit sad to sell them though, considering that they were all being sold just before Thanksgiving. While my supervisor was handling the sales, I was directed over to a family that was visiting us. We helped them take a family photo with one of the goats (named Casablanca). When another family of customers came in to purchase one of our rams, my supervisor had me give the original family a quick tour of our facility. This is when Sophia came in and began writing out receipts for our rams. She was especially heartbroken to sell them, but she toughed it out and made it through. Once all of that was taken care of, my supervisor took a couple other volunteers to do some small jobs and assigned Sophia and me to take care of the produce shop. This was essentially the remainder of our day, helping a few customers with purchases and bringing out some pre-orders for others. Overall it was a pleasantly simple day and was good to stay inside considering it was a bit cold outside. 

[antoniocendejas]

Day 5 - Leadership

October 28th - Today was a particularly special day, as my supervisor felt confident enough to give me the reigns for a change. With the weather becoming more and more chilly as the days go by, it’s getting to that point where it’s no longer healthy for the plants to remain outside. This started the project of getting the potted plants into the greenhouses where they will be able to survive the winter. This is an important process because Growing Power runs all year long. Since no one else was available, my supervisor was required to do the tours that usually take place on Saturdays. That being said, there was no one to direct the project of transitioning the pots. He told me that he trusted my judgment and that I should get the pots wherever I believe they best belong. This then required me to direct the other volunteers to where they should place the other materials, ensuring that there is still enough space for everyone else to be able to walk through the greenhouse. After several hours, we were able to move everything where it needed to go, and in the end my supervisor was happy with the job we did. 

[antoniocendejas]

Day 3: Expanding Opportunities

October 7 - A very eventful day. I got there around 10 am, and began with the job I expected at first - sifting dirt. After only a few minutes of doing that however, my supervisor decided to take me to the back where a new job was waiting for me. Instead of using the pickaxe to get the raw dirt, there was a collection of small plastic buckets that had decomposing plants in them. This process involved separating between the plants and the dirt, putting the plants in one wheelbarrow and dirt in the other. The dirt wheelbarrow would be the raw dirt and the plants would be placed into the compost pile with the refuse from the sifting machine. Once this process was complete, that’s when the call happened. My supervisor gets a call while we’re cleaning up the plastic buckets. This call forces him to drop everything and tell me to follow him - turns out the owner, Will Allen, just arrived with a truckload of produce. The 6 ft. 7 in. retired professional basketball player and owner of the establishment came in with produce from his farm to dictate what produce would go in an outdoor fridge, and what produce would either get thrown out or placed into the store; all the while reminding me how short I actually am. Once we were done moving around produce, all the rejected foods were placed on a pallet, and Will decided to go and give the 2 o’ clock tour for visitors to see the property. My supervisor and I rushed to go take care of a quick dirt dispersal job to look good for the tour. Once that was done, we rushed back over to the sifter to give the tour a demonstration. After they were able to see the process, we stopped the machine so they could ask questions, where I was given the opportunity to show off my knowledge of the dirt sifting process. When they were leaving, Will gave us all a bit of praise, and left with the tour. My supervisor then gave us the reward of getting to feed the goats the rejected produce. After enjoying that, it was back to sifting dirt until about 3pm, and once that was it, that was my day. Overall, a grand experience!

[antoniocendejas]

Growing Power Orientation

After a few discussions and a previous failed attempt, I was able to find my place in an orientation to begin volunteering at Growing Power on the 16th of September. At 10am sharp I arrived at their facility to meet my soon-to-be supervisor. I was started off with a short video explaining a bit of the history of the organization, along with their mission and goals. According to the video, the company was intended to be able to help give teens a place to work. A retired professional basketball player named Will Allen was a man that had farm land that needed work, so he turned his land into what would become Growing Power.  Through my volunteer work, I’ll be able to help Growing Power be able to work on their mission of “providing equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities.” The tour I received helped me get an idea of what kind of affordable food was under that umbrella. From their fish systems, beekeeping hives, chickens, goats, worms, and of course many plants, there was obviously plenty of work that needed to get done. What position I would be filling during my volunteer hours was still a mystery, however it seemed that I would not be working a position, but possibly several positions. While daunting at first since I have no clue what I’m doing, it became a bit more exciting with all the new material that I would get to learn firsthand. While I doubt I will be doing beekeeping anytime soon, there is still a great deal of additional plants and animals that need care and maintenance. Any chance to learn for free is most definitely welcome in my life!

[antoniocendejas]

Why Start Volunteering?

As someone who is admittedly fresh to the volunteering world, it becomes rather easy to fall back on the old “never too late to start” philosophy. I have always spent so much time trying to advance my own benefits, it seems it was only a matter of time before I had to start returning the favors. The service learning course I am now a part of is definitely a good way to get the kick in the pants needed to get started. As I expose myself to this new experience it provides a great opportunity to start sharing with everyone my experiences and personal developments created as I begin making my mark on the volunteering community.  Through a bit of soul searching and guidance, I managed to find Growing Power - a nonprofit organization that focuses on produce. Through a bit of government funding and hefty volunteer work this organization is able to provide rich soil and organic produce to the communities around. Considering my lack of green thumb knowledge, this area seemed to have provided a very good opportunity to get a few volunteer hours in while learning about proper organic care. This learning opportunity is what helped peak my interest since I am the last person you want to watch over your tulips (for now). On top of all the teachings they can provide, I can help keep an organization that promotes a healthy and strong lifestyle continue to flourish as they should. 

[growingpower-recipes-blog]

At the Iron Street Farm in Chicago, we have a lot of delicious vegetables that you can take home and prepare. This brief video shows that you can grate more than just cheese for a healthy meal: use our apples or cabbage to whip up a coleslaw!

Song: Bad Time Zoo (Instrumental) - Lazerbeak