By: Chris Gavin and Larissa Alvarado
This season, the PFP education team is launching a new program called Food Power Adult Gardener workshops. This initiative is geared towards supporting and connecting gardeners and wisdom keepers in the City of Poughkeepsie, creating space for folks to come together to learn, share knowledge, and build community around growing, cooking, and eating healthy food. Workshops are being offered for families who have participated in our after school and distance learning programs. Larissa (Lala) Alvarado is an educator, herbalist, and garden steward here at PFP, and she shares her reflections on the successes and highlights of the first workshop held in early June. The conversation is facilitated by her colleague and co-teacher Chris Gavin.
[Chris] Take me through the plan for this first workshop.
[Larissa] This workshop series is intensive. It's a full day, a lot of hours and many different things to experience and explore. It’s an herbal workshop, it’s a gardening workshop, it’s a healthy cooking workshop - all rolled into one big day. We did a farm tour, we made pesto and spring rolls, we did hands-on garden work and skill-building, we picked strawberries, we made herbal tea. And everyone walked out of here with the food we made together, seedlings and soil to grow their own plants, bouquet of flowers from the herbal walk, plants to make herbal tea, a ton of strawberries - it was really the full bounty of what the farm has to offer. People who sign up are getting a great experience but it’s also a big commitment, they are giving up a full day of their weekend so they have to really want to be here and be a part of what we are doing.
A variety of seedlings to grow at home were available to new and experienced gardeners.
[Chris] Tell me about how the team centered inclusivity and accessibility in the planning process.
[Larissa] We made sure that this program was as inclusive as possible. We provided transportation if anyone needed it. We provided lunch and took into consideration the dietary needs of all of the participants. We had an interpretation for Spanish speakers. And the biggest thing is that we provided a children's program doing similar activities but geared towards kids. If you have young humans, that makes it problematic for folks to attend a program like this, and we provided a safe and supportive learning setting for kids AND parents. The kids were learning alongside them but not WITH them, so the adults were able to fully participate and enjoy being in the space. I am a single mom from here in PK, my kids are grown now but as a young mom I totally would have signed up for this program because of how much support was built into it.
Learning about how local strawberries grow...and taste!
[Chris] Who participated in this first workshop?
[Larissa] This program was open to anyone who is a city of Poughkeepsie resident interested in coming together to learn and share what they know about gardening. But the incredible thing was that all the families that signed up had participated in our programs before, our Food Power @ Home distance learning program or our after school programs. So they all came in with a baseline of knowledge and a shared sense of community. None of the families knew each other but it felt like they were instantly close friends. They came in with their curiosity and a real desire to connect with each other and the values of PFP. And the kids didn’t know each other but they supported and looked out for each other like they were family, the older kids taking care of the young ones. And it happened to be that all the participants are moms from Poughkeepsie, and they are all women of color, which also created a special bond and a sense of they all have been through similar experiences. Everyone was sharing mom stories of courage and persevering through issues of raising a family, and also sharing the joys of being a mom.
[Chris] From your perspective, what are your hopes for this new project?
[Larissa] For me, I want PFP to be a place that feels welcoming and inclusive to everyone in my community. I want folks to see PFP as their own space to come and learn and give back to others. I want people from our community to get to be a part of each other's learning and growth, and they have an opportunity to share their own wisdom with others. This workshop was the first of a FIRST! It was incredible to watch it grow from a kernel of an idea and then we really co-creating the experience together WITH the folks participating. This is such a big step for us to get connected with community members who have knowledge and expertise and could be trained to be leaders and educators with PFP and in their community. It’s all about fostering community-based leadership.
Lunchtime featured farm fresh arugula, pesto pasta, and refreshing herbal iced tea.
[Chris] There must’ve been a lot of incredible moments and stories that came out of this workshop. Can you share a few with me?
[Larissa] One mom told me she gave up her regular “me time” to come to this workshop, she usually spends four hours getting her nails done and relaxing. And here we were with our hands in the soil, and somehow being on the land with dirty hands became her “me time”, this was a new way for her to take care of herself and nurture herself. Also, I knew this was a really good day for all the moms when they asked if they could come back and do this every Saturday! And I laughed and said that’s a hard no - it’s a lot of work putting this together! But you know what, I can see these women coming together on their own and hosting their own workshops, they can do this themselves without us now, they just needed a way to connect!
[Chris] I know you had a special connection with one of the moms who reminded you of yourself when you first came to PFP. Tell me about how you saw yourself reflected in her.
[Larissa] One mom came in with a background in herbalism and she came in saying, “I want to work for you, I want to work WITH you, I see myself as a part of this.” She said this is exactly what she wants to be doing - self care, caring for the earth, caring for the community. It is such a big deal for a young Black mother to say she can see herself being a part of what we are doing. It reminded me of myself when I first connected with PFP. I didn’t know what this was, I was just filling in for my sister for a family cooking workshop hosted by PFP at one of the schools in Poughkeepsie. After we did this amazing hands-on workshop we also got all the tools and ingredients to make the recipe at home. And I kept thinking - what is this place? I really get to be a part of this? I’m getting all this stuff to take home? I need to know what's going on with this crew and find out how do I become a part of this. The abundance, the knowledge, the support, the generosity of what PFP offers is so great. I saw the same look on this mom’s face - like not believing the gift she had just stepped into. Sharing my story of how I started at PFP and how I am a mom from Poughkeepsie like her made her feel like she could be a part of what we are doing. Because here I am now in a capacity to teach what I’ve learned, share with other moms about how to grow food, eat healthy, be in community and share their knowledge with each other. She asked how she can stay involved, I told her just keep coming, keep showing up, keep gaining confidence so you can be in a leadership role one day.
[Chris] As an educator, what was your favorite teaching moment?
[Larissa] I love showing people herbs for the first time in person, in real life. We’ve all had chamomile tea, but imagine getting to meet camomile as a growing flower, not just dry tea in a bag. Someone says, you mean this is growing right here right now and I can take this home and make it into tea myself? There is a real gift in learning to do something yourself, making it with your own hands. It’s about building the skills but also building the confidence to believe in yourself. You can do this.
Larissa, PFP intern Rosa, and kids of the Adult Workshop participants making summer memories.
[Chris] Thank you so much for sharing these stories and insights with me and the rest of the PFP community.
[Larissa] Of course! It’s all about the love!