Jefferson Community Center vermiculture teach-in

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Background

The Westside Community Improvement Association is a grass-roots organization in Eureka, California working to revitalize the local urban neighborhood by restoring the Jefferson School site. Last April, they won the bid to purchase the site which they are working towards turning into a community center and charter school. One of their first tasks was to reopen the playground for local children who had nowhere else to play. Community members will collaborate to facilitate a sustainability teach-in where low-to-no cost technologies can be shared and implemented within a diverse community.

Problem statement

The objective of this project is to integrate what the community wants to learn about appropriate technology into a cohesive workshop.

Evaluation Criteria

Following are five initial criteria which we have chosen to judge the success of our project. As the technological subject of our workshop develops, this list may be augmented.

Criteria	constraints	Our weight (0-10)
Affordibility	Must cost little to no money to make and maintain	9
Safety	Must not be a safety hazard to users or households	9
Teachability	The design must be simple, repeatable, and easy to explain	7
Practibility	Must appropriately fit the needs and desires of the community: size, weight, necessity	10
Inclusion	Workshops must be well advertised in order for ample community involvement and inclusion	9

Literature Review

This is a review of the available literature pertinent to the Jefferson Community Center Teach-in. We reviewed information regarding community outreach in general, and specific projects that we could teach at the Jefferson Community Center. We believe, as E.F. Schumacher wrote, that "education is the most vital of all resources" (79). ^[1]

Community Outreach basics

Not only are we teaching about appropriate technology, we are part of an organization that is working toward community building on the Westside, so our project must reflect that. As Brazilian educator Paulo Freire insists, "It is not our role to speak to the people about our own veiw of the world, nor to attempt to impose that view on them, but rather to dialogue with the people about their veiw and ours" (96). ^[2] Community involvement and cultural sensitivity are two topics that must be considered throughout our project. We are interested in building a relationship with the community members, and viewing the teach-in as something done with the community, not for the community.

Community Building: What Makes It Work attempts to synthesize the research literature on community building to examine what makes a community successful. How do initiatives and organizations capitalize on the community's strengths? How does the community itself increase social capacity? What does it take to unify a community? The authors describe community not just as a "geographically defined area" but also people who have "social and psychological ties with each other and the place where they live" (Mattessich 6). The various characteristics of the community, the process, and the community organizers are outlined. Chapter Three describes the "Factors Related to Success," including community awareness of an issue and motivation within the community. It is clear that a clear system of communication is necessary for any community building to be successful. ^[3]

The Westside in Eureka is a ethnically diverse area. This is an element that we will treat with respect and forethought in planning our teach-in. The chapter in Building Community- Social Science in Action addressed community building in a diverse setting. Being culturally sensitive was very important. People of different backgrounds and languages may present a challenge but the case study presented showed that success is possible. ^[4]

The most useful tools in Building Communities from the Inside Out are the various "webs" that outline how to strengthen partnerships in the community. The book focuses on the power that the relationships between people, organizational groups (including churches, colleges, schools, and neighborhood groups like Westside Community Improvement Organization), the private sector and city governments. The graphics show these webs as a means to link the community together at every level. ^[5]

Specific projects- Food Security

In the book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, topics of cultural survival and food security are hand-in-hand. Seed saving is marketed as a political act as the current food model in the United States is put under the microscope. The book even includes a recipe for soaking and sprouting seeds on page 71. Author Sandor Ellix Katz highlights the importance of the community level as the first step in restoring their relationship with food. He mentions people organizing around themes of food justice and food security. ^[6]

Here is another resource on sprouting seeds: Kitchen Counter Gardening: Try Sprouts. In the article, Alterman and Pleasant explain that, by sprouting already-nutritious seeds, we are able to unlock otherwise unrealized nutritional capacities. Several recipes provide creative ideas of how to integrate sprouts into one's diet.

Seed Saving

In his book Growing and Saving Vegetable Seeds, Marc Rogers divides seed-bearing vegetables into three categories:

1) Those, such as tomatoes and peppers, where the seeds are found within fleshy fruits, should be harvested when very (or even over) ripe.

2) Those with edible seeds such as maize or beans. These generally hold their seeds after maturity making harvest times flexible.

3)Those such as lettuce and onion, who loose seeds as soon as they reach maturity. Here, Rogers recommends daily inspection and collection of ripe seeds as they reach maturity, as seeds on these plants will often become ready gradually and not all at once.

Rogers goes on to discuss the individual methods used for extracting, drying and storing various seeds. Beginning on page 42, a table describes important data for each of the vegetables he devotes the rest of the book to, including how it is pollinated (insect, itself, wind), if it needs to be isolated to avoid cross-pollination, and how long each variety of seed usually lasts.^[7]

Window Boxes

From plastic bottles or reused tin cans: ^[8]

Seed starting pots- newspaper, egg shells, toilet paper rolls, etc. ^[9]

Specific projects- Energy Efficiency

Power strips.

Water Heater blanket.

Specific projects- Other

Make your own household cleaners.

Composting and vermicomposting.

Budget

Quantity	Material	Source	Cost ($)	Total ($)
1	Printing-Posters, Pamphlets, etc.	Humboldt State University (?)	50.00	50.00
40	Planting Containers	Salvaged/Thrift Stores	1.00	40.00
1	Soil	Jefferson School (?)	0.00	0.00
100	Seeds	Mad River Gardens	10.00	10.00
Total Cost				$100.00

References