Service Learning: Week 2

The temperature was low but the sun was bright. Kate and I were noticeably tired as we drove once again to the West Philly site of Urban Tree Connection. When we got there we saw Raheem. He told us he jumped over the fence because Que had the key. Kate and I waited until Que arrived to get in the farm. Raheem is originally from California and moved to Philadelphia about 5 years ago. Talking to him was interesting because I had already heard about him. Last week Que told us that Raheem makes fun of him because of his height. Mark, a guy from my class, told us that the two had a funny dynamic. He was right. Que and Raheem studied together and started to work at UTC at the same time.

The first task of the day was to once again uproot arugula in the high tunnel. There are two and a half high tunnels in the farm, all of which they themselves constructed. I say a half because one of them is still missing the plastic that protects the vegetables from the weather and retains sunlight. It is significantly warmer inside. I took my coat off and continued to work. Raheem asked us where we were from. Kate said she was from North Jersey and told him I was from Puerto Rico. "You're from Puerto Rico? You're not Puerto Rican, I know Puerto Ricans!" I chuckled. I can't tell you how many times someone has been surprised when I tell them where I am from. "Straight from the island," I replied. After the arugula we uprooted lettuce and some weeds that were growing on the side. When we were done there was nothing left except garlic, which is in season. 

Since the day got warmer, we went outside and uprooted spinach and asparagus. The sounds of an urban farm are different than the sounds of a rural farm. We all enjoyed the old school radio station that one of the neighbor's was loudly listening to. The way I see it,  they're sharing the music not bothering us.  We discussed about the real estate around the area as I struggled to take the asparagus roots from the frozen dirt. 

I had never seen frozen dirt so close. To be honest, I had never thought about dirt being frozen. Why would I? Frozen dirt has never been relevant. I never had to shovel or move it. Which takes me to the final task-- shoveling the divisons of the new high tunnel. Since the tunnel doesn't have the plastic the dirt was frozen and my arms were hurting. I wondered how many calories I was burning. After we finished, we left. When I went to class that day I looked at the dirt around campus and wondered how frozen it was.