Testimonies

Mable's Manifesto by Mable Wilson

I Made Applesauce Today Up at SU College by Cher

 

 

Mable's Manifesto

A Testimonial from Mable Wilson, Coordinator of the West Newell Street Garden and Co-Chair of Syracuse Grows

Mable Wilson has been coordinating the West Newell Street Community Garden on Syracuse's Southside for more than a decade. For Mable, community gardening is valuable on many levels. Here's what Mable has to say about community gardening:

“The mission of the West Newell Street Community Garden is to create a space where a community of people can join together to garden. Our garden is a shared green space that is planned and maintained by some community members for use and enjoyment by the entire community. I believe that our community garden has many benefits for many people. In fact, it's a lifesaver to many of its members: working in the garden reduces stress, provides nourishment, exercise, and recreation. It is a place for us to meet up with our friends to talk and laugh.

There are also many residual benefits of our community garden. It beautifies a vacant plot and helps make the neighborhood a safer place. It is a source of community pride for us. Our community garden is a great connector, enabling people to exchange ideas about diverse horticultural traditions and techniques. It is a place where people can work cooperatively and make decisions through negotiation. It is a place where children, parents and grandparents can come together to learn from one another. It is also place where people can connect with the earth.

Our garden is a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees who may have come from places of trauma, such as the women and men from Somalia that live in our community. Our garden is a place where children can learn and support their school curriculum in science, math, the arts and environmental studies. Children learn about different plants, including their common and scientific names. Measuring garden beds, soil depth, planting distance, and charting plant growth develops math skills. Keeping a garden journal and writing stories about the garden develops literacy skills.

We look forward to each spring as a new beginning for our garden and for our community.”

 

 

 

 

I Made Applesauce Today Up at SU College

 

A testimony by Cher of CNYPlantcycle

Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:59 pm (PST)

 

"Syracuse Grows, a newly formed group to support sustainable gardens and resources, had a canning session up at SU Kitchen, Lyman Hall. We took apples that were never sprayed, peeled and removed any blemishes; and then proceeded to process into applesauce. I made it with the skins left in the mix with cinnamon.

 

There were strainers available and supplies for everyone. It was a great group and we all had fun working on the apples and getting the sauce into the glass jars. The tree was growing apples but not being harvested. So the apples were collected and used to make the sauce. It turned out very nice with the cinnamon. There was a recipe for apple rings using red dye, but I suggested that beet juice was more natural and tastier too! lol.. We all were done by 5:30 taking our hot applesauce in nice clean jars home with us.

It was quite an enjoyable experience. "