Activism

Garden Planted at Marin School During MLK’s Holiday

Michelle Bryant, the Garden coordinator, was inspired by the White House Kitchen Garden that Michelle Obama started, and which was maintained by Melania Trump and now by the First Lady Jill Biden. The Garden supplies the White House kitchen with about 2,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables and herbs each year, and what is not used is donated to a food bank in Washington, D.C.

Published

4 years ago

January 23, 2022

Oakland Post

Volunteers prepping the soil. Bottom: Start of Meditation Circle (Photos by Godfrey Lee)

By Godfrey Lee

About 50 adults and youths came to weed and till the soil at the children’s garden at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy. This was a Day of Service in the Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday, on Jan. 17, and part of a year-long celebration of Marin City’s 80th birthday.

The event was organized by Felecia Gaston, the director of Performing Stars of Marin, and the Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church.

The event will help the students at the school get a head start in planting the crops for their vegetable garden. The garden needs to be planted before the end of January, according to Michelle Bryant, the Garden coordinator. Bryant also said that the soil, which has now turned black in color, is now richer and more fertile as it was left alone during the COVID Pandemic. While the garden became overgrown, the soil became more fertile, and should yield some good fruits and vegetables for the students in the school.

Some parents in the community came earlier in November to clear out the previous garden. Now Bryant is able to reimagine and improve the garden to have a meditation circle in the middle where the students can enjoy the garden. It will also have a victory rose garden and orchard trees, along with the other fruits and vegetables.

Bryant was inspired by the White House Kitchen Garden that Michelle Obama started, and which was maintained by Melania Trump and now by the First Lady Jill Biden. The Garden supplies the White House kitchen with about 2,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables and herbs each year, and what is not used is donated to a food bank in Washington, D.C.

Most significant to Bryant, in drawing inspiration from the 2800 square-foot White House garden, was the rich dirt that was used, and that children are able to walk through it.

The garden at the school will help students learn about growing the plants they will be eating. It resembles the abundance Bryant saw in Marin City when she was a child. “Everybody had something growing. They just loved the idea of being from the farm.” Bryant told the Marin IJ.

Gaston, who was working in the Garden, also told the Marin IJ “It’s a perfect time to bring people together from all diverse backgrounds, to come and do a day of service … and still continue the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.”