Christopher Cummings

Was very cold so we tried sticking to where sunshine was. No new plants to plant so we decided to weed. Our plots were maintained well so we took it upon ourselves to visit plots that weren't on Marvhic and Kristina's list for us and work on those. Before we left we met Susan who happened to be the person Marvhic and Kristina wer3e dog sitting for. She explained to us that she left to help take care of her grandchildren because her daughter was away. The garden was clearly important to her and the dogs because she came to visit the same day (and apparently within hours) of getting back in town, and the dogs were running wildly around the garden without disturbing any of the plants. This is probably my last visit to the garden of the year but Emily and I talked about a plan to come back in January sometime.

After having to cancel visiting the garden last week, Emily and I did finally get to see the dogs that Marvhic and Kristina were dogsitting. They were shiba inu dogs one girl and one boy both on the younger side. It was funny watching them run around happily in the garden. They wouldn't disturb any of the plants but sniff all of them and just enjoyed the space. Kristina talked to us about some teachers she had while attending ULV and whether they were there still or not. While we were weeding, Kristina and Marvhic mentioned that they might be fortunate enough to get a Jan-Term class through ULV 305 for students to come work on the garden. I'm hoping they get it because while Emily and I do a good amount while we are there, it's difficult to tend to more than 3 plots a visit. Towards the end we planted some onions and hopefully sometime next week I'll get to see their growth.

Sunday most of the CoB partners from our class showed up to their Alternative Gift Fair. The fair was essentially a crafts market from church members that had involvement with other charitable partnerships. One notable one I remember was Aaron (met him from Meal making service at the end of September) and he has a partnership I believe called "Gift" where they travel and help develop communities. First with food relief, then sustainability. Our part was in the kitchen where we made Taco Salad, or at least deconstructed Taco Salad. We ran the food like a cafeteria style where people would come up and say what they want and we would scoop and serve said ingredients. This day I met Steve, Katrina's husband (running the kitchen). He teaches at Cal Poly with a focus on Kinesiology and went La Verne. Fun times and got good advice from him about working out and dieting.

On Halloween, instead of trick or treating or going to a party, we worked on homework, studied, and thankfully went to the Peace and Carrots Garden. This visit was like a counseling session for me as Emily and I were talking about my majors and what I want to do vs what is best for me. We were excited and worried about this visit though. On Monday, Karina text Emily that she bought plants for us so we can start planting our own crops. She got us a lot of broccoli. Our excitement was obviously tied to getting to plant. This was different in our past activities because now instead of cleaning, we are finally getting to add to the Peace and Carrots Garden. Our worries were that we had NO clue how to plant. We were afraid we were going to give the crops an unfortunately short-lived life. We settled on planting each one about 6 inches apart from the other and about 4-6 inches into the dirt. Planting only took us about an hour and after that we picked our spots on where to pull weeds. We tried staying in the shade because it was especially hot while we there. I had messaged Marvhic about a plot that I thought was abandoned because it's appearance was horrendous. Crab-grass/weeds were up to my hip and the front end of the plot looked like someone had taken a weedwacker to it with the intentions of clearing it entirely out. Marvhic told me it was a "pollinator plot." The plots entire purpose was to attract bugs and deter them from the other plots. He said it was okay to clear out though and thus the work began. Marvhic and Karina actually made a surprise appearance and brought us iced coffee. We all caught up and then planned for this week (tomorrow as I'm typing this) to get to the garden at the same time and that they would bring dogs they are dog sitting. I guess their owner has one of the plots on the garden as well and is just out of town for about a month so they wanted to bring the dogs so we can play with them for a bit. All-in-all was a fun visit that broke our normal routine and has me looking forward to tomorrows trip.

This is the only trip so to CoB so far where I haven't met any new faces. After our classes were done for the day, Emily and I went over to the Peace and Carrots Garden. We had been exchanging messages with Marvhic and Karina over the weekend about what they wanted us to focus on. One of the plots was was a Persian cucumber plot and they vines weren't growing vertically. Instead, they were reaching out beyond the plot and were extremely messy. Much of our time was spent on that area. For about an hour and a half, while Emily tackled weeds in open areas the vines were covering, I was using planting velcro to attach the ends of vines to rope that was stretched across the plot, in a similar fashion to power lines. I was trying to reshape where the vines would grow and also clear them from the ground so we can get rid of the weeds stealing the nutrients. In doing so I accidentally harvested a cucumber that was thrown into the compost pile. After velcroing, I began weeding the plot and hoeing along the edges of the plot walls. By the time we finished there was a noticeable difference, however the nature of the vines made the plot still look unorganized to an unknown eye. The last half hour was spent tending to the plot we had previously worked on. Weeds grow back quickly, so each week we not only need to work on a new plot, but we need to tend to ALL of the plots we had tended to before, otherwise our work will be erased in short time. Though I felt our plot wasn't too noticeable, Marvhic sent a picture later in the week talking about how great it looked.

This is my first trip to the Peace and Carrots garden to go and clean up. When I got there with Emily there was a man, and the section that I had intended to clean up (the plot that was abandoned and needed to be cleared out for the next person) was cleared and replotted with new vegetables already. Low and behold, the man there was named Michael. He and his wife, also named Michael, are the two that founded the Peace and Carrots garden. The man Michael is who I spoke with the most because his wife works in the office and was conducting interviews. Michael talked about how he and his wife would come here when it was just grass and how they began to cultivate the land for the church. He talked about his loving marriage and how he hates seeing people just abandon their plots and let weeds get to them. He confesses during the conversation that he suffers from dementia, but said "I got dementia, dementia doesn't got me." The interaction with him was very fun. I noticed that while he repeated himself a few times or lost his train of thought, whenever he talked about his wife, his mind was clear and he had no memory issue when it came to her; I thought it was cute/sweet in a way that I hope to have that love in my late age. After talking with Michael I tended to the land and Emily focused on the first plot next to the shed in the garden. I got all the weeds and grass (they asked for it to be just dirt) out next to the plot. It was more of a workout than I thought it would be because the land was dry, so it made it rough to get the roots out. Curious to see how much has grown back when I revisit it this Tuesday. Maybe I'll get to tend to a plot this time around.

Today Emily and I met the coordinators/managers of the garden at CoB. Their names were Kristina & Marvhic, who I got to learn more about. Marvhic in specific, while showing me around the garden and areas to target, told me he is also from Upland High. We tried a few times to figure out people we both knew because he was from the Class of 2017, and I got into high school in 2018 (Class of 2022), while unsuccessful I did learn more about his family and work. Marvhic told me he's a data analyst for WebMD. I got to know a little about Kristina, but we split up so, she spent most of the time with Emily; I was mostly with Marvhic. Beyond what I got to learn about them I did learn the basics of their garden. They lease out the plots, what we needed to focus on are primarily the lots that have been abandoned or given up. Usually groups forfeit their plot because of the weeds and lack of desire for upkeep. Marvhic showed me how to load the weed-wacker and I showed him how to change the grip to be able to go along a wall rather than keeping the blade flat. We went over where to throw trash and they handed us keys. For the most part that's it, hopefully I'll get to see them again but it seemed like that wasn't necessarily likely based on schedules.

Went to Church of Brethren and met with Amanda Bennet. Discussed the church's mission and their purpose, how they look to serve the community and aim to be more progressive in their doctrine. They primarily focus on the New Testament, pulling at times from the Old Testament. Afterwards we prepared BBQ chicken sliders and coleslaw in their kitchen with their partnership with HOPE for Pomona. I primarily worked with Amanda Bennet, and Aaron (one of the leaders of the kitchen but didn't catch his last name). Learned about Amanda's family and how they are planning to go to Disneyland soon. Aaron has a daughter that is starting to get into Greek mythology. He was laughing because he has to learn how to censor the content of some characters having gory deaths. I cleaned and chopped the cabbage. Afterwards, I worked with Johana from class, we prepared the coleslaw by mixing in the cabbage, shredded carrots, and the sauce made by other members helping. A 3rd person of the community I met was named Nancy. Nancy has a son is currently attending college---I believe in Fullerton--- and talking about how she raised him in La Verne and how his eyes are being exposed to a "whole different world."
After prepping the meals, we all cleaned up then some of us went to deliver the food to the HOPE for Pomona's location off of Mission Blvd. I didn't have much interaction with that community because they were serving food at the time we delivered to them, but hopefully next time when our next meal prep activity is on Oct. 29th.

Went to Church of Brethren in La Verne for the service they asked community partners to attend before engagement. The service was called "Weaving Hellos and Goodbyes," and was Pastor Tom H.'s last service to the community. He focused on being comfortable with change; learning to embrace "goodbyes" because they mean new "hellos." These "hellos" that will lead back to "goodbyes" allow us to grow and meet new people in our walks of life. It wasn't a typical experience I've had with services before. This one was more uplifting than scrutinizing and also addressed future events the church was hosting. After the service, we went into group discussions and the one I attended was about Christian Nationalism. The group talked about the troubles of political groups using Christianity to gain power and claiming the religion was superior to other religious groups. Afterwards, the discussion leader gave new attendees, including myself, a free loaf of bread. The group was overjoyed with our presence, very welcoming. Next event with them is Saturday (9/23) 9-12 PM for a food drive. I believe I'll get to make meal bags and hopefully get to find out a few personal stories of some of the members. I did hear about one that formerly worked at ULV and served as the International studies and studies abroad chair.