Journalist, Jhamar James, and photographer, Jayson Johnson, recount their first week working with Groundwork Milwaukee.
Tuesday, June 30th, 2020
Today was a slow day for us but an air conditioned comfortable day in the office. We learned how to use a mapping app, how to build bases for a 500 gallon rainwater container, a wheelchair accessible garden bed and found out where our own personal items were made. Although the day was going well, we did unfortunately come to an upset. One of our garden sites was now a construction site. Luckily, we have over 100 garden sites all across Milwaukee!
Wednesday, July 1st, 2020
Today was another good but long day at "Village Roots". We as a team accomplished a lot and even got two young local volunteers to help. We weeded, repaired, and painted garden beds with some lovely colors. Volunteers came to assist, praise, and encourage us as we worked through the blazing sun. Despite the sun, we managed to pull through as a team. During lunch we had a lovely picnic and shared some laughter and tall tales.
Thursday, July 2nd, 2020
We came back to Florence Lambert Community Garden and started off very strong and finished stronger. As a team we made a lot of progress. We painted a lot, spray painted, put down mulch and topsoil, and repaired a broken garden bed. When we arrived at Florence Lambert it needed some love. When we saw the before and after photos, you could tell there was a lot of hard work, sweat, and dedication. Looking back at Florence, we are only proud of our work.
Friday, July 3rd, 2020
Today was a very fun day. We came to Maglio and got a tour of the greenhouses, held team bonding activities, and had a cookout. We weeded some of the greenhouses, picked diseased tomatoes, and weeded some pointy weeds. We played "This or That" where we practiced debating, and a game where there was a sponge in a bucket and we had to be a team and transport a sponge full of water to the other bucket. We grilled some burgers, hot dogs, ate watermelon, chips, and BANANA BREAD!