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May 21, 2016: Garden to Garden
We introduced a new walk this season, to focus on the variety of green spaces we can enjoy in East Harlem.
We skipped the usual pre-walk quiz to focus on the activities for the day, and to emphasize the fun. As usual we gave stickers to the kids who brought their reusable water bottles. And we thanked families for signing the petition in support of the plastic bag fee, which passed in the city council.
¡Vámonos! We headed west on 108th Street over to Central Park, specifically the Conservatory Gardens. We strolled through the English Garden into the expansive Italian Garden, congregating around the fountain for our apples and bananas. It was a great place to make wishes with pennies, charge up the stairs and race around the pergola, and relax.
We took the western path around the English Garden on our way north to the Harlem Meer. Racing along the shoreline, or strolling the path, there was plenty to enjoy, with the lush greenery, ducks, turtles, and fishermen populating this bucolic corner of the park.
Chenchita’s Community Garden is just a couple blocks away, and we were introduced to a presumed refugee from the park when we arrived: a raccoon napping in a tree on the plot! The raccoon paid us no mind as we went about our business, and there was plenty of business to be done. Our crew jumped into the work, including composting our food waste, watering the new plants, hauling dirt and building new raised beds. Of course, we enjoyed the typical Chenchita’s offerings as well, especially the reading corner and arts & crafts. In this case, we rolled tires out to the sidewalk to where we painted them to become mini-planters for the garden.
We were so busy we didn’t even have time to stop by the block party at El Museo del Barrio, but we’ll try to visit them for another event later in the year.
We’ll be working with Chenchita’s throughout the season as we tend the plants in our new beds, and we look forward to a bountiful harvest!
[No quiz or curriculum this time.]
Stats
Date: May 21, 2016
Adults: 19
Children: 27
Total: 46
Miles: 1.3
Time: about 3 hours
Calories: 450 kcal**
Co-leaders: Cappy Collins, Mario Lavelanet, Deysi Martínez, Emma Murphy
**http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm
“Walking, under 2.0 mph, very slow,” 155lbs = 140 kcal/hr
Pediatric Communitologist
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