The Burns Latino Studies Academy is closed this summer for construction, but the garden built on the east side of the elementary school is being maintained with a little help from rain barrels. Constructed in 2012 by “Solutionaries“, some of the garden needs to be redone because of the chronic flooding problem. Making repairs and keeping this going during the summer means there will be a harvest when the students return in the fall.
The garden at Burns is just one of the projects that Summer of Solutions is currently working on as a way to confront issues of food access while providing youth with environmental education. The Hartford branch of the organization began in 2010 and already has several sites in the city. The organization is trying to raise funds to provide need-based stipends to some participants; Summer of Solutions also has unpaid volunteers. They are using ioby — a crowd-funding site dedicated to environmental projects — to work toward their goal of $4000. As of publication, they are nearly $500 away from reaching this. For those who would rather give in a different way, 10% of sales at Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt in West Hartford on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 will be donated to Summer of Solutions from 5-9pm.
Besides Burns, Summer of Solutions is doing work at four other sites in Hartford and one in East Hartford: Wesley Colbert Zion Street Community Garden, Annie Fisher Montessori School Garden, Asian Studies Academy Greenhouse Project, Moylan Montessori School, and Connecticut River Academy Garden and Leadership Program. Summer of Solutions has worked with COMPASS, Hartford Food System, Knox Parks, Somali-Bantu Community Development Center, Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, and Trinity College Without Borders.
The raised vegetable and flower beds on Zion Street are for neighborhood residents to use. The organization sets up a free “farm stand” so that the harvested food is made clearly available. A community potluck series is in the works for this summer; people who live in the area of Zion Street can start looking for potluck information flyers soon.
All of the Hartford school projects incorporate raised beds and collaboration with students at those schools. The Connecticut River Academy Garden in East Hartford was built on a reclaimed brownfield site. Raised beds were created last spring; vertical gardening is one of the projects there this summer.
