Field Trip to Participation Park

We at the BUGS program went to Participation Park. It is an urban garden near Johnston Square where some of the food is grown by people in our community. If you would like to help, you are welcome to. Here is more information:

http://www.downtownfarmcoop.blogspot.com/

(Written by Asia Carmichael). 

I was at Participation Park last Monday. While I was there I watered the plants. It was a very hot summer day. We hooked the hose up to a fire hydrant and then started to water the plants. 

Participation Park is a garden where you and your family can work hard and grow your own vegetables. (Written by Breonna Vincent). 

A Day of Harvesting in the Summer Garden

On this day we picked tomatoes, squash, beans, celery and cucumbers. We had fun picking all of the colorful vegetables from the garden. I had squash and Ranoah had big tomatoes. (Written by Kerron Webb).

Breonna and I were outside picking tomatoes and summer squash on a super hot day. We could tell when a tomato was ready to pick if it was dark red and a little bit squishy. We also had to tell if the squash was ready to be picked. It was big and yellow and green. (Written by Andrea Carmichael). 

I was at the BUGS after-school program, holding a bowl of big cucumbers. We have lots of fun at the BUGS program. I've been in BUGS for four years and that's a long time. 

The cucumbers are very good because they are freshly grown from the garden. We harvest the cucumbers when they are ripe. This is when they are really big. (Written by Miyah Montgomery). 

Asia and I were outside on a sunny hot day holding celery and enjoying ourselves. We grew and picked the celery from our garden at BUGS. The celery is green and looks like flowers. That day we worked hard in our garden. (Written by Brittane Vincent). 

The celery was crunchy and very good. It is growing very well because it has been taken care of by all the BUGS students. Now this celery is ready to be eaten. (Written by Asia Carmichael). 

African Drumming on a Saturday...

On August 8th, a small group of BUGS Students went to the Creative Alliance in the Patterson Park area to participate in the African Drumming Workshop. The class was taught by Baba Changa.

The students that attended this workshop were taught the Kuukuu rhythm. It's a rhythm that is played as a celebration for the return of the harvest. The rhythm is played on 3 drums: the Kikinii, the Sounba, and the Djembe. The Kikinii keeps the timing. The Sounba is the driving force. The djembe plays the rhythm. The students had an opportunity to play on each of the drums. They were taught the 3 sounds that the Djembe makes - tone, slap, and bass. There is a particular way for the hand to be held in order to get those sounds. The Sounba was being hit by a drum stick. There is an action called a press which is the pressing of the drumstick to the drum after striking it. By the end of the 2 hour drumming lesson, the kids were able to know the origins of the drums, what they were made of, and the importance of drumming in the African tradition. They learned new words and were able to be transported out of their usual surroundings to experience the beauty and magnificence of African drumming.

Ronoah plays the Kuukuu rhythm on the Djembe. She played this rhythm so much her hands were getting a little sore but she persevered.

Jeremiah switched to the Kikinii and had to keep the timing for the other drummers. The timing was very basic. There wasn't any change in the actual beat but the spacing between each hit of the Kikinii had to remain the same. Some of the kids made a few mistakes in the beginning but when they got the hang of it, they were unstoppable.

Quante, on the Sounba, had to keep the driving rhythm for the rest of drums. When all of the drums were playing together, they were called the Djembe Orchestra. Having all of the kids play together was a really wonderful thing for them. They learned how to work in a group and what a group working together can accomplish.

Pictures from the Garden

 Some newly planted fall crops:

Three sisters (a Native American companion planting technique that includes corn, beans and squash):

Eggplant:

Tomatoes:

Cucumbers:

Corn:

Basil:

Patty pan squash:

Harvested cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes:

Big beautiful squash plants:

Compost piles:

Weeding the carrots:

Harvested celery:

(Photographs taken by the Boys Group, Session Two. Selected by Jerrel Mack, Antoine Thompson, Daquan Richardson.)