Burmese Chin Baung growing in full force
How amazing are Columbia’s refugees?? They are survivors who relocate to a world vastly different from their own and succeed in rebuilding their lives from the ground up. Refugees possess a resilience that has brought them from war-torn jungles and deserts that we only read about in the papers to our own beautiful city. Along their journey to Columbia, refugees have gained in innovative spirit towards life that is so evident in this year’s garden.
Refugees have utilized space never intended to be gardened in order to gain a few extra feet of growing space. They have used a single thread and fallen tree branches to build a trellis system to support their tomato plants. The use piece of twine to tie their cabbage plants shut to create a tighter head of cabbage. They have built another expansive trellis system from twine and branches that stretches across 6 garden plots to provide support for their squash.
It is simply amazing what our city’s refugees can accomplish given just a few resources. This is why we will begin a campaign in the coming months to identify possible sites to expand the garden. It has always been our dream to create an urban farm where refugees can use their skills to grow commercially and provide a place where Columbians can learn about the world without leaving the city limits. Know of any possible sites?
Also, check out this article about Refugee/Immigrant Day at the Columbia Farmer’s Market. Next year we will be teaming up with the Farmer’s Market to expand our World Refugee Day!
Until next post, enjoy pictures of our growers’ innovative spirit.
The Path between the fence and the plots is slowing disappearing (Burmese).
Tomato plants growing along the fence where grass used to be (Burmese).
Trellis system for squash plants (Burmese).
Trellis system for tomato plants (Eritrean).
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