Below: Youth leaders at the Leave It Better Kids' Garden are determined to work through every obstacle in the way of building a farm.  They have boldly & successfully tackled jobs that some adults shy away from, such as driving out rodents!  Congratulations to our youth leaders for their courage & determination.

Every so often a hunched over man with white hair walks by the Leave It Better Kids' Garden's gates and stops to warn us that "You're wasting your time.  This place is a dump! It's never going to change." His name is Ralph and he's lived in a building next to the garden for more than 40 years.  The roughened lines on his face twitch when we cheerily invite him inside and assure him that things have changed for the better and will continue to change.  With a dismissive wave of his hand, he continues shuffling down the Bronx sidewalk to run whatever errand he's out running.

Above: Students in the Leave It Better Apprenticeship demonstrate how to recyle food scraps and build an indoor worm bin. December 15th, 2011.

In the streets of Morris Heights there are many happenings that suggest why Ralph feels so disheartened.  In the two years since we have been working closely in the community, we have witnessed how some have lost their lives to disease or violence.  Others are out of work and struggling to make ends meet in this tough economy.  Diet related illnesses and childhood obesity are prevalent in this community - which can be considered a food desert due to lack of acess to healthy food.  Even the garden - a formerly HPD owned plot of land - used to be full of trash and rat infested.  However, in the face of so many challenges and with youth leading the way, the community has managed to lift itself up.  The King of Glory Tabernacle, a church down the block from the garden has youth after school programs to give the kids a safe place to do homework and enjoy fun activities.  King of Glory Tabernacle's educational food workshops in the church and at the Leave It Better Kids' Garden have empowered the community with the ability to make better food choices.  Citizen Schools - an organization that recruits professionals has been working at  PS 306/MS 331, providing apprenticeships where students' leadership skills are honed and work ethics that will prepare them for college are developed.  The Leave It Better Kids' Garden has joined with both the church and schools and other organizations to continue building and healing of the community.  Below: Embedding bricks under the raised beds has helped to deter rodents from burrowing.  Thanks to our friend Ben and the school where he teaches for donating bricks for our projects.

Despite violence, drugs and poverty plaguing the community, the kids of Morris Heights are eager to learn how to plant and grow food, build raised beds and design a brick patio floor.  In the spring of 2012, they helped build 12 raised beds in one day.  Building 12 beds usually takes more than one day.  The energy of the Morris Heights youth is boundless.  Thy enthusiastically help with rodent proofing and closing up rodent burrows with nothing more than shovels, rocks , dirt and a positive attitude.   When some of us adults have run in fear away from the rats or have doubted the rats could be eliminated, the kids push ahead.  In one very productive day & with adult supervision our 8 year old Youth Groundskeeper closed up 15 rodent burrows. 

Above: The Leave It Better Kids' Garden Youth Groundskeeper & Caretaker.  Our Youth Groundskeeper helped to reduce the rodent population at the garden so that the community can safely grow food starting in Spring 2012.  With help from Green Thumb, Council Member Ferando Cabrera's Office and Partnerships for Parks, the community managed to transfer the garden from Housing Preservation and Development to NYC Parks & Recreation in less than 9 months, saving it from potential housing or commercial development in the future.  With the assistance of many other organizations & individuals including Bronx Green Up, the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Health Reach, King of Glory Tabernacle, the Bronx Borough Presidents Office, PS 306/MS 331, the NYC Department of Health, NYC Compost Project and most recently Bronxworks - the garden has become a symbol of growth, persistance and not giving up. 

Above: U.S. Senator Gillibrand, who serves on the Agriculture Committee in Congress, visited Hostos Community College in the Bronx on January 4th, 2012 to listen to the people's ideas on how the government can support access to healthy food & obesity prevention initiatives in New York.  We plan to have our youth leaders, apprenticeship & reGeneration students write letters to Senator Gillibrand to ask her to support the Leave It Better reGeneration Program & the Leave It Better Kids' Garden.

In recent months, the Morris Heights community has greatly reduced the rat population at the garden, 2 grants have been secured, 5 youth leaders have been appointed (and more to be named this off season), raised beds built for planting food have been placed, students in the Leave It Better apprenticeshp have used the space to learn, soil has been preserved for spring planting and every week measures are taken to rodent proof the garden.  A Farmers Market, through a collaboration with BronxWorks might be coming to the garden starign in June 2012.  Garden membership has set the bar high for 2012 goals.   Healthy food will be grown for the commuity, a full youth staff will be on board, an educational program and apprenticeship will be in place, workshops on sustainability, horticulture and farming will be run.  Films related to the food and sustainable movement will be screened.   Healing will take place.

Above: A sunken portion of concrete floor was a tripping hazard & provided a shelter for burrowing rodents.  We enlisted the help of Green Thumb to remove the floor so that the community could safely farm.

Above: On January 3rd, 2012, Green Thumb's Parks & Recreation Crew came out in twenty something degree weather to remove the concrete ground as promised.  They also put down some filler.  Thanks so much Green Thumb!

Above: On January 6th, 2012, Green Thumb's team returned to deliver 2 more truckloads of filler.  With the hazardous ground removed, a workday will be planned for the community to design & build a new floor or brick patio. Join us!

Above: We hope to either build a brick patio like the one above from Brooklyn's Finest Garden or just leave an Earth floor.

Above:  Our entourage came out to support the students in the Leave It Better & other Citizen School Apprenticeships on December 15th, 2011.  We roll deep!

Above:  Future farmers being trained to be youth leaders & environmental stewards at the Leave It Better Kids' Garden & at the school garden at PS 306/MS 331.  Citizen Schools Apprenticeship, Fall 2011.

Above: Community members work together to rodent proof under the raised beds.

Above: Leave It Better Kids' Garden farm hands move a pile of soil so that Green Thumb an come in with their Bobcat Truck on January 3rd, 2012 to remove the sunken concrete floor.  A new floor will be designed & built by the community.  December 30th, 2011.  From left: Kelly, Evelyn, Carlos, Robert & Jaime.  Go team!

Check out some videos of Green Thumb removing the sunken floor & leveling out the ground:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150474851106657¬if_t=like

Below is a look back at the goals we set to accomplish in 2011.  We're excited to say that most of these goals have been met and we're looking forward to setting new goals for 2012.  Thanks so much to everyone for the continued support of our youth and our programs.

Goals for 2011 & Beyond:

Fill out as many grant applications as possible, removal of collapsed concrete floor, eliminate rats, build Farm Apprentice Program, create a Farmers' Market, engage more and more people from the community

Goals for 2012 & Beyond:

Secure substantial grants, build a toolshed, build more raised beds, partner with even more organizations, appoint more youth leaders, get more of the community adults involved, set up youth led workshops, screen American Meat and other food & sustainability related films, hammer out details for our on site youth and adult apprenticeship program. write letters to politicians requesting support, design signs thanking organizations and individuals who have helped us to hang on the garden gate.