By Millie Duran – Executive Director Casa Milagro Youth Solutions

It isn’t quite time to harvest, but it is a time for us to look back and recognize the dedicated hard work our youth put forth to plant, nourish and love this organic garden.  These youth were on summer vacation and they needed to be here at the garden at 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  to beat the heat. This was a first-time gardening experience for each of us, and it provided for a gratifying opportunity to learn about the extraordinary process of bringing our crops to our families and communities.   

Once a week we visited a farm and gardens and took part in Spirit of the Sun’s food share program, sorting, packaging and delivering fresh produce boxes to those in need. 

Casa Milagro Youth Solutions deals with the whole body as Augusto Boal, the Brazilian theater director, stressed in his teachings of Theater of the Oppressed that we are based on.  In our earlier program of How We Became Junk Food Junkies and taking part in the  Bison Harvest at Tallbull in Daniel’s Park, we incorporated cooking healthy meals with fruits, vegetables and bison.   Next, we expanded from eating healthy to growing our own organic crops with our youth and sharing this value with our communities.  

We are appreciative of our partners for taking us on tours, sharing plants, seeds, time and experience with us.  Ana Chavez with the Troy Chavez Peace Garden provided us with a tour of their beautiful garden of 30 years and how they grow their plants, their herbal and medicinal sections and the Three Sisters with corn, beans and squash. 

Ana gave us some of their plants that are thriving today in our garden.  We had a very informative tour of flowers and herbs by Adrienne Bouveron at the Denver Botanic Gardens; Milpa Caracol in Boulder, Alonzo and Monserrat engaged us in the busy and hard daily life of working a farm. We took part in planting in a small section that Alonzo logs in and records, religiously. We visited their Medicine Wheel honoring Mother Earth and the four directions as it is tied to seasons and teachings of the Indigenous culture from generation to generation. 

We shared lunch with them as we learned of taking time to respect our land and share our stories.  Shannon Francis with Spirit of the Sun invited us to take part in their exceptional Culinary Camp at Tallbull; Monique Gallegos with Lifespan Local provided us with a fascinating  tour of their year-round hydroponic farm, climate and nutrient controlled;   We had two visits to the Dahlia Campus, one tour to their garden with Anna Cooper and a second visit to their Farmer’s Market. 

Neighbors, Ken and Agnes, opened their space to share a new addition of bee hives to their established garden. We learned about the loyalty bees have to their queen bee and hive, even if just feet apart. We learned of containing our mint plant since mint is typically invasive if not routinely managed. We planted our mint in a large terracotta planter underground.   

We visited two sites of the Denver Urban Gardens (DUG).  Drizzle, at one of the DUG gardens provided us with some of their fresh produce and we happily incorporated them into our dishes. 

Our youth spied two mice in our garden and we learned that mice will eat grasshoppers and other insects, helping to deter the insects from eating our garden plants.  If we eliminated those insects, the mice would feast on our plants.  We learned about the need for supporting melons on a trellis with stretchy nets.  When the heavy melons are supported by nets, this allows the plant to direct its nutrients to the fruits rather than directing the nutrients to holding up the fruits. 

We had one youth from the Denver Youth Employment Program and two youth, a part of Denver’s Office of Economic Development and MySpark. This was the first job for these youth 14 and 15 years old. In our interviews, I expressed that it would  be hard work and took a commitment. Pulling weeds was least liked but there was gratification in knowing that we weeded so our plants would get all the nutrients from the soil. 

The youth learned about companion planting and the benefits the ‘Three Sisters’ provided.  The corn was a trellis for the beans and the beans provided the soil with nitrogen and the leaves of the squash covered the ground and helped maintain the moisture in the ground and also suppressed weeds.  This technique was developed thousands of years ago by Indigenous peoples. 

Once we are harvesting, we will also have several products we will prepare. We planted blue corn from native seeds and we will grind the corn for blue corn meal. 

Our beets will be dehydrated and ground into a nutritious beet powder as well as our carrots.  The echinacea will be used fresh and we will also dry some to preserve it for longer periods.  The seeds of our anise plants will be dried for teas. 

Watching the plants first sprout was exciting to the youth.  The youth commented that our garden was beginning to look like a garden. Our beds filled in with a variety of plants and then blossoms.   We enjoyed sweet corn on the cob,  chile peppers, tomatoes, cilantro and dill. Now we have squash and honeydew melons and tomatillos starting to produce. Soon we will have bok choy and radishes.  

This gardening experience may not be comprehended fully by the youth today, but what they learned in this project is going to last a lifetime and will prompt questions of how and why we did some of the steps. They will teach their families and someday, their children, of the value of growing your own organic crops.  The organic crops will outdo the flavor of store bought crops and the minimal levels of pesticides will be a benefit to our health. 

We had a wonderful celebration and invited family, friends and neighbors. The Aztec Danzantes, “Yohualli Ehecatl Mitotilztli” danced and did a blessing of our garden.  Our youth prepared some Lakota dishes, Gabubu bread and wojapi, and wohanpi soup, calabasitas. One of our youth, Lorenzo, designed our t-shirt.   

We invite you to visit our garden, Jardin Mano En Mano, Hand in Hand Garden at 3517 W. 45th Ave. 

Millie Duran – Executive Director Casa Milagro Youth Solutions. The organization offers artistic education programs to underserved children and teens to avoid abuse and promote healing.