City garden, helped by CCHD funding, feeds and educates

Published: 2004-11-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- On a sunny morning during the spring, a group of kindergarten through second-grade students were outside learning about photosynthesis and the differences among roots, seeds and stems. Their classroom was a small garden tucked between city buildings alongside the Anacostia River in Washington. Their adopted beds, funded in part by Catholic donations, were sprouting onions, radishes, beans, potatoes, squash and basil. The young gardeners, students from a nearby Islamic school, were not necessarily keen on eating all the vegetables they were growing, especially the lima beans, and they were easily distracted from weeding by an occasional grasshopper or cicada. But they were definitely getting the concept that food doesn't just grow on shelves. The students from Clara Muhammed School were among several groups that frequent the city garden called Urban Oasis and sponsored by Community Harvest, a Washington group committed to providing food to low-income urban families. For the past few years, Community Harvest has received a local grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development for its educational work and support for community-run farm stands.

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