Page 1 - March 2013

CHEHALIS The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation “People of the Sands” TRIBAL NEWSLETTER March 2013 Free Garden Project Growing a Healthier Community Spring is fast approaching, and garden for production it’s getting warm enough to start „ Build a healthy community preparing the ground to plant vegetables, fruit trees, and spring What’s in the Garden? fowers. What better way to refresh the body and spirit then to spend Last year the garden was planted some relaxing time in the garden. with spinach, broccoli, cucumbers, It is said that earth below your feet kale, wok choy , two kinds of has the property of purifying your lettuce, green onions, pumpkins, body. When you work in the dirt summer squash, apple trees, all day, you are in constant contact plum trees, pear trees, and cherry with earth the whole time. This trees. Our goals for this year are alone, can provide a surprising to add potatoes, carrots, corn, amount of benefts for your mental peas, cabbage, watermelon, and physical health. tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, herbs, and natural About the Community Garden During the summer youth workers and volunteers prepared and medicines. Project planted the community garden. Gary Ortivez II said, “It was a Where the Produce Will Go This is the second season for rewarding experience our first year getting the garden up and our Community Garden Project. running. I hope more people from our community get involved.” When the produce of the garden Initially, some land was donated youth workers: George “Geo” „ Promoting healthy lifestyles is ready for distribution, our main to be used as a garden from Janice Jack, Gary Ortivez III, and Jordan „ Helping high school students priority will be giving to the Elders Latch. When she shared with us Bray. They worked very hard last gain credit for graduation and community. We also want to be that her mother loved gardening, summer to get the garden up and able to have a small weekly market she felt it was a perfect place for started as they visited other gardens „ Self-soothing/meditation to allow people to buy our fresh us to start our Community Garden. and nurseries to gain the skills they „ Community service hours with produce, and to generate money The garden will be named “Ida’s needed. Correna Young, tribal Tribal HR approval which will go back into helping Garden” to honor Janice’s mother. employee and master gardener support the garden. It would be contributed her expertise, time and „ Core skills of growing a garden great to see if we could start a During last summer the garden energy to set up the garden. There from scratch Farmer’s Market monthly and have crew consisted of three dedicated were also many other volunteers „ Cultural learning with natural Continued on Page 2.... who came out and helped build a medicine raised bed by tilling the ground and planting. We encourage anyone „ Community cohesion willing to come out and help „ Connection to the environment support this project! „ Learning and implementing self Benefts of Gardening suffcient food skills Gardening gives you a sense of Goals and plans: accomplishment and independence, „ Keep Community Garden alive as well as a closer relationship with and maintained nature. It also provides nutritious „ More involvement from the food choices while showing the community youth that if we work together we Youth Geo Jack surveys his can give back to the community. „ Incorporate more verities of Orinda Goddard working the work after finishing planting vegetables, fruit, and herbs soil to prepare for planting the fruit trees. The garden will also be used for: „ Acquire more land to expand the the crops.