Lynn planting Collard Greens.
My Internship at the Susan D. Mona Center for Health and Wellness & Research Engagement Urban Farm (the Mona Farm) has been a most rewarding and fulfilling experience. The Mona Wellness Center is a Non-Profit organization primarily sponsored by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington, DC., Doctors Community Hospital (DCH) and University of Maryland. Initially planned in 2014 as part of a grant agreement between Catholic Charities and the School of Public Health/UMD (Dr. Stephen Thomas), the area to be used for the urban farm was still an asphalt parking lot.
The area is between .75 and 1 acres, with one quarter of the space landscaped and tented for the St. Maria Meal Truck that comes every Tuesday afternoon to offer free meals to those in the community. The rest of the area is used for the urban farm and other farm equipment and educational activities.
The building on the land was completely renovated to house much needed services for the underserved, low-income community: Physicians, Dental and Immigration Legal services. In future plans, there will be a teaching kitchen, as well as a multi-purpose room for classes and other educational functions.
The available “farm” land was an asphalt parking lot. The Denison Landscape company (the “D” in the name) installed 3” of dirt and sprayed some crabgrass over it and called it “Done.” The land was to be used as an urban farm to provide fresh produce directly to the community. A beautiful idea, but definitely a challenge.
I was brought into the project in mid-June 2019 by Meredith Epstein and Dr. Thomas. The goal was to build at least 12 raised beds to provide fresh produce to the Catholic Charities Kitchen for the local communities. After many starts and stops, and much fundraising (thank you Meredith Epstein for your generous birthday fundraiser!) DCH built and placed 12 raised planting beds and donated a great shed and toolbox.
I noticed that several of the beds would not receive enough sun to support the crops we intended to grow. Fortunately, Hillary Quarles, of the Capital Area Food Bank, gave us the benefit of her knowledge and expertise as an urban farm designer and helped us move the beds to get better sun and create a more pleasing arrangement.
Stone and soil were ordered and delivered. Ultimately, we used six tons of stone and 30 cubic yards of soil to fill all 12 raised beds. Thankfully, Meredith and I were able to put together a great group of volunteers to help load the beds with a layer of stone and then fill with soil. Not at all surprisingly, all the volunteers were the Women of the IAA! I am so grateful to all of these wonderful ladies for their great strength and generosity.
Due to the “hurry-up and wait” situations, initial planting did not commence until September 17, which is very late for a sizeable harvest. Three beds of broccoli, two beds of collard greens, one bed each of green and red Cabbage, two beds of spinach, and two beds of radishes were planted. The final bed was planted with garlic and spinach to overwinter for a spring crop. During this growing period the entire area was suffering from a drought and very high temperatures. I was at Mona Farm everyday (7 days a week) to make sure all crops were properly monitored and watered. The radishes were practically jumping out of the soil into my hands when it was time to harvest them. I also harvested the two beds of spinach, first cutting. I immediately drove my tiny first harvest to the Catholic Charities kitchen in Hyattsville, MD. Mona Farm has no facility for properly washing and storing any produce. The harvested crops went directly to the local soup kitchens and food trucks. It was an amazing feeling to be able to contribute directly to the community.
Since that initial harvest, I have provided collard greens, more spinach, and all of the cabbage to the Catholic Charities kitchen. The fresh produce that I had grown was highly praised.
As of this writing on November 27, I am still waiting for the three beds of broccoli to start to crown. I am hoping the broccoli will come to fruition quickly (within the next 10 days - two weeks), because the hydrant at the Farm will be shut down for the winter very soon. I have already sown Crimson Clover as cover crop on the empty beds for the winter and will provide cover crop for the broccoli bed, once harvested.
This experience, unique and unusual, has been difficult and frustrating, as well as glorious and spectacular. I was able to use and call on much of my IAA course work to help me fulfill my duties and expectations in this project. I hope the project will secure more farmers to continue to provide the wonderful, much needed fresh produce for this under-served community.
