Tag Archive for: course-nocourse

Today we did some volunteer work for an organization called Capstone which was created in response to hurricane Katrina and was designed to help less fortunate folks get food. It started as a community garden and has since grown to include an aquaculture system for catfish, bee colonies, chickens, and goats. While some of my classmates worked on a filtration system for the catfish pond, the rest of us worked to clear an empty plot of land that once had a house on it. We mowed the the lot and threw away all of the litter we found, which was a lot. We also used the cut up grass and plants as feed for the goats and bedding for the chicken coop. It was a great pleasure working for this organization and I felt like my work there has legitamelty increased the progress of this organization.  

Jay William & I

Today we went to the lower ninth ward and assisted with a program called Capstone.  Capstone is a program that makes food gardens to support the local community.  As a part of our day we were split into a few different groups.  We started off weeding a small garden in the front yard of the house.  I planted a baby head of lettuce. 

Next, one team was helping to improve the house of the founder David so he can get ready to paint it.  Another team was sent to a lot down the street to mow the lawn (mini forest) and clean the area.  I was with this group and I was one of the people who mowed the lawn.  It was very hard but really fun because it was very satisfying to see the end result.  The last group was a group that everyone ended up helping in the end because they had the duty of washing the clay rocks so they could be put in a filtration system for David’s Aqua Farm.  His Aqua Farm held 200 catfish and helped to support the growth of the plants.  David had two different types of lettuce and kale.

After we left Capstone we went into the Central Business District and went to a law firm that discussed a case between 97 oil and gas companies and the SLFPA (Southern Louisiana Flood Protection Agency).  Our last stop was at the NOLA.org news office and we talked to a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who talked about what he deals with on a daily basis in regards to the politics and repercussions of Katrina.

Posted from Austin, Texas, United States.

Today our group headed to the lower 9th Ward to help a nonprofit called Capstone.
Capstone was started by David Young in 2009 and it is a small non-profit that has turned 30 blighted or vacant lots in the Lower 9th into food gardens and orchards. The main goal of Capstone is to provide food at no cost to those who need it in the community especially because it is located in a food desert. A food desert is defined as an area s parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers. Capstone also assists others in the community in starting their own gardens.

Capstone also has 30 beehives. After noticing a lack of bees in empty lots in 2012, David started keeping bees because there was a need of bees in the Lower 9th. The honey is now being sold at farmers markets all over the city, and you can help Capstone with the bees in the Lower 9th Ward by donating here. The profits made from honey sales helps support the cost of providing food to the community.

Today we mowed a lawn at an adjacent lot across the street, and used the grass cuttings to feed the goats and chickens in the back yard of the Capstone house. Another cool thing about David and the Capstone house was the aquaculture pond he had set up and that we helped finish. The system has a catfish pond in the backyard hooked up to various other tanks where plants are hydroponically grown. Some species that were being grown hydroponically were red okra, cucumbers, two kinds of lettuce, kale, and many others. We helped David put together a hydroponic trough that was set up to the aquaculture system and did so by washing expanded clay and filling the trough with the clay. The whole system was really awesome, and it was amazing how much food could be grown in such a small area. David mentioned that 2600 pounds of organic produce can be grown with this system. Overall it was an amazing day and it felt good to help out a good cause and meet some awesome people such as David and Miss Carol.

– Michaela & Pashalle

Today we began our day at Capstone Community Gardens located in the Lower Ninth Ward. Capstone community Gardens is a non-profit organization which has taken abandoned lots at turned them into community gardens and orchards. They provide all the food they grow to community members who need assistance. It was a great day learning about Capstone and all the different things they do for the community. 

We managed to get through four transects for our vegetation surveys. The first three went fairly well and as we moved further into the trail and further into the transect we saw less densely packed black berry and that meant less thorns for us to deal with. For our fourth and final transect we ended up dealing with 30+ meters worth of blac berry bush and the only way was through it,
so naturally we solidified our machete skills. On the bright side, we found a small patch of wild strawberries(picture)!