In the Gardens
UVLT interns Cora Day and Ella Barrett planting tomato seedlings at Brookmead Food Pantry Garden
By UVLT Intern, Ella Barrett
Growing up in the Upper Valley I’ve always been connected to the outdoors; hiking Mount Cardigan at the age of two, maintaining a garden each summer with my dad, skiing throughout Vermont and New Hampshire each winter, and now working on hiking New Hampshire’s 48 4000 footers. Currently I attend Mount Holyoke College, studying politics and environmental studies. When looking for a summer job this year, I knew I wanted the opportunity to work outdoors while also giving back to my community. The UVLT Patchen Miller Internship seemed like the perfect fit.
As an intern this summer I have worked at the food pantry gardens at the Brookmead Conservation Area in Norwich, VT and the Up on the Hill Conservation Area in Charleston, NH. I have helped plant, maintain, and harvest produce to be donated to Willing Hands, the Claremont Soup Kitchen, and other local food pantries in the area. While every experience at the gardens has been rewarding there have been two extremely meaningful projects I have had the chance to work on this summer.
The first being the installation of an eight foot permanent fence around the Brookmead garden. This took a significant amount of time and energy with the project starting my first day as an intern as I assisted in measuring out the perimeter of the fence. The following week, UVLT hosted a volunteer work day with employees from Hypertherm to begin the installation of the fence. On this day we were able to create all of the post holes for the fence and begin installing the posts. For the month following UVLT staff installed the remaining fence posts and built the gates. During this time we saw some damage to the growing produce in the garden from the increasingly present deer population. In past years, before the installation of the fence, the harvest had been significantly impacted by deer and other local pests. In late June UVLT hosted another volunteer workday with employees from Hypertherm and we were able to install the wiring around the fence, this completed the installation of our permanent fence. Since the completion of this project the plants in the garden have been able to thrive. Working alongside Hypertherm employees and UVLT staff showed me the impact a small group of people can make on the larger community.
Working at the section of the Brookmead food pantry garden dedicated to growing indigenous crops for the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation, has been another rewarding experience this summer prompting me to think more deeply about food sovereignty, a concept I studied in my college “Global Environmental Justice” course. To understand the Abenaki Land Link initiative, a sign at the Brookmead garden states, “The Nulhegan tribe’s Abenaki Land Link Program provided Indigenous seeds of their crops for us to grow. In turn, UVLT will donate the produce and seeds back to the Nulhegan Band for the exclusive use by Abenaki citizens and future growers”. In partnership with NOFA-VT and Rooted in VT numerous gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers have participated in the Abeneki Land Link project, growing and harvesting indigenous seeds and produce for the exclusive use of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki Nation. Currently CoCo Beans, Montpelier Squash, and Mohawk beans are all growing and thriving within the newly constructed fence at Brookmead garden.
Working in the garden this season has been both rewarding and inspiring. This internship has provided me the opportunity to learn so many new things from when the best time to plant seeds is, to how to run volunteer workdays and the importance of volunteer led nonprofits. All of these experiences have been incredibly valuable, showing me how much progress can be made when a group of committed people come together to better their community.
Next semester I’m looking forward to studying abroad in Athens, Greece and connecting to a new community. What I have learned working in the gardens this summer will contribute to my experiences abroad, particularly as I take the course “Planetary Ecology: Climate Science, Climate Solutions”. This internship and the connections I have made reaffirmed my decisions to pursue environmental studies and conservation work. After my semester abroad I plan to return to Mount Holyoke College and if I’m in the Upper Valley next summer you may see me at some of UVLT’s volunteer work days at the gardens!
