- Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program

Saturday in the garden: bring bags!
by Molly Phemister 15 Aug '24

15 Aug '24

Hello my relatives! Saturday should be very pleasant in the morning, so I am as usual going to recommend long pants and closed toed shoes. In addition to what is by now a fairly standard volume of weeding to do, our Harvest is picking up: cherry tomatoes and green beans came in pretty thick last weekend, and I think we will see okra and some larger tomatoes and more peppers this weekend. Where is this food going? Our goal is to help feed our community. Loving reminder: YOU are part of our … [View More]

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Saturday- garden only
by Molly Phemister 09 Aug '24

09 Aug '24

Good morning relatives, thank you for your patience with my delayed email this week. For variety of reasons, we do not have our ducks aligned well to participate in the discovery days program tomorrow, so We will only be in the garden. With the turn of the seasons, evidenced by this prelude to fall and the rockets cacophony of cicadas, we know it is time to do some fall planting. There is of course grass to remove, but hopefully we will also add carrots, radishes, green beans, and a few other … [View More]

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Gardening and then a woods walk
by Molly Phemister 01 Aug '24

01 Aug '24

Good morning, relatives! This weekend will be hot again, so come early / on time! Please wear long socks or long pants- we're going to wrap up our garden work around 10:30 or 10:45 and then wander down the hill to be in the shade. We have a number of tree relatives that I'd like to introduce you to. Many of our elders also know these relatives and will have more stories to share- elders PLEASE consider joining us for this exploration. Folks from previous cohorts are also very much welcome to … [View More]

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HOT! and yet in the garden.
by Molly Phemister 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

Good morning, Relatives! This weekend will be fairly hot compared to the delights of last weekend. There's food to harvest (tomatoes, okra, peppers, and I saw the first green bean!), a little bit of planting to do (more green beans, for sure), some weeding to do, more bug removal (good BYE squashbugs!) and maaaybe we can get those last tarp pieces out there? But it'll not be a good day for hurrying, so maybe, maybe not. Please wear lighter colors, looser fitting, ideally woven, lightweight … [View More]fabrics; closed toed shoes; and plan to start the morning by drinking a tall cup of water. Have we not seen you for a bit? We've missed you! Please come back. Some of you are reaching some higher levels of absenteeism and that's going to mess with your fall stipend check. Nobody wants that. I've been in the garden on Monday and Wednesday mornings the past few weeks, some folks have made up time during those hours. Next week, MONDAY MORNING ONLY. I'm out of town Wednesday. Are these mornings not working for you? Look at your August schedule- perhaps there are some evenings that I can come and be there with you? I'm rooting for you, you just have to let me know what you need and we can work something out. Sometimes these side sessions become private tutoring sessions- when it's just me and one or two students, they really get my full attention. Check out the trellis in the Turtle Clan quadrant that Earl and I made when we were able to focus on the work! Another opportunity to make up some time will be August 10- we're scheduled to have a booth at the Discovery Days event, 10-2, on the East Campus Mall. We have openings for a couple of youth to stay late and staff that booth. It'll be a great opportunity to practice interacting with the public and letting them know about our program. This week, I want you to look at the flowers around you. "Wildflower" is a weird concept- for most of history, they were all wildflowers. What I want you to look at are how the flowers are formed. Picture yourself with some pieces of paper or fabric and going to "build" the flower you are looking at- how many pieces would you need? Do any of them need to be folded? What kind of symmetry do the flowers have? We'll take a look at more on Saturday morning and see how they can help us identify plants and decode which other plants are their closest relatives. If you want to read about flowers, the chapter on Asters and Goldenrods is wild. Who knew?! See you Saturday! Molly [https://ucomm.unl.edu/images/email-signature/Nebraska_N_RGB_small_on_white.…] Molly Phemister 3110 North 40th St Lincoln NE, 68506 [View Less]

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Saturday PROBABLY outside
by Molly Phemister 18 Jul '24

18 Jul '24

Hello relatives! It so lovely to have the cooler weather back, so we're hoping to be in the garden on Saturday, HOWEVER the weather predictions have not been stable for the day. A light rain and we're still in the garden. Thunder or lightning, and we will head over to Entomology Hall to meet some of Louise's friends. Please come prepared to garden (weeeed): close toe shoes, long pants, perhaps even a sun hat. Please also come prepared to invest in community building- plan to stay until noon so … [View More]

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Indoors this week!
by Molly Phemister 11 Jul '24

11 Jul '24

Good morning, my relatives, We will meet Saturday at our Plant Sciences building classroom to beat the heat and focus on Indigenous world views. Please bring your journals and have read / be ready to discuss two passages: 1. Allegiance to Gratitude on page 105. It examines the Indigenous concept of acknowledgement and thanksgiving to the natural world. 2. The Honorable Harvest on page 175 to page 190 (stop there). It examines Indigenous concepts of humility and respect to wamaskanskan (… [View More]

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Additional hour opportunities
by Molly Phemister 07 Jul '24

07 Jul '24

Hello my relations, There will be a second email later this week with specifics about next Saturday, but in the meantime, we've noticed that some of our youth are struggling to balance work and sports schedules with their garden time, therefore we are adding additional hours so that folks can make up their time if the Saturday group time is not working. Let's start with Monday and Wednesday 9-11, but let me know if neither of those work either, we can be creative together. See you soon, I … [View More]

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YES, July 6 we will meet.
by Molly Phemister 03 Jul '24

03 Jul '24

Good morning, relatives, It's July 3, and I'm writing to you to say we will indeed meet in the garden on July 6. Between now and then comes July 4, which is a complicated mess of a "holiday" for most of the folks reading this email. With that in mind, I re-read chapter 27 in Braiding Sweetgrass, in which Robin tells the history of the Onondaga Confederacy and Onondaga lake. The lake is a true lake and the toxins that must be cleaned from it are true toxins, the work of cleaning it is true and … [View More]

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Saturday will be gorgeous!
by Molly Phemister 27 Jun '24

27 Jun '24

We will start this Saturday in the garden with our typical circle, greeting of the land, and setting of intentions, but for some portion of the morning this weekend, we will also be accompanied by a film crew from the local news. They would like to film y'all working in the garden a bit, and I think they would like to talk to several of you about the program . I will try to have red bandannas available for anybody who does NOT want to be on TV but just in case I don't have quite enough, wear … [View More]

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Saturday June 22, start in the garden
by Molly Phemister 20 Jun '24

20 Jun '24

Good morning relatives, You'll be meeting Ted in the garden this week, I need to take care of some family things so I will be missing. Last week we started on trellises, but we didnt get very far. We are doing trellises because your tomato plants are going to be about as big as you are Soon, but they will fall over without help. I am attaching some drawings. Notice how far into the ground the end posts go. On the drawing of the single string and the Florida weave patterns I've only drawn a … [View More]

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Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program

2025

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Indigenous Youth Food Sovereignty Program