Julie Mount, Alumni Council Member
My name is Julie Mount. I worked with Seattle Youth Garden Works in the Fall/Winter Crew in the University site in 2003. I had such a wonderful experience working in the garden and learning new things everyday. Being at Garden Works has given me the opportunity to develop and pursue my career goals. I learned what customers are looking for, whether it’s produce or a question that needs to be answered. I also learned that gardening is something that I love and enjoy doing for a living or as a hobby.
I have also used the things that I have learned in my own house. I started a small garden in my room, am working outside of my house planting seeds and have been teaching other residents at my house how to garden. I am also looking for a job as a gardener and want to go to school to further my education and to become a landscape designer. I looked forward going to work each and everyday, rain or shine. I am now volunteering on the Alumni Council, where we figure out how to make the program better and more efficient for youth. We meet once a month. I am also on the RIC (Rooted in the Community) committee. We are working on a conference that is going to be hosted in Olympia.
This whole experience has been really helpful and I am learning new ways to help the community better. I want to thank all the people who have given me this opportunity and the people who support this program.
Cuong Nguyen, Garden Intern, South Park site
During the first year of working for Seattle Youth Garden Works I have been inspired to work my very best because it is what you do and how you do it that proves your ability of work. I have worked many hours in which I learned many things. I first thought of not coming back but as the new session was coming up I couldn’t help but try for the internship job. I have looked forward to putting my ideas and greatly improving many aspects of my job and more. There are so many things to do out here in the South Park Marra Farm and I have been trying to complete as many tasks as possible to make this year the best that it can be for me as I am here.
As this year goes on I have strived to show as many people as possible about Marra Farm and how wonderful it would be to come out and just take a glimpse of the past and the future of the many people that have worked their very best to keep this Farm a beautiful reminder of our past history and the future of what it could be with the devoting hard work of staff, crew members, and volunteers.
Anna Thompson, Youth Crewmember, University District
Hi! I’ve been working for Seattle Youth Garden Works for a year (off and on). At first, I just didn’t get the knack of working. I was always late, absent or didn’t call in. Eventually I quit. It was during the next four and a half months that I was unemployed and homeless again that I realized something. Here I had been saying for a long time that I wanted a place of my own. But I hadn’t been willing to work for it. So, in November I hooked back up with SYGW as a volunteer. Soon with steady attendance I was re-hired again. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. Margaret and I started talking about my future. I told her that I liked gardening, but I wanted to learn other skills also, like doing office work or organizing. After some time she offered me an internship.
The promotion to “Youth Business Manager” has made me a lot happier. Now I not only work in the garden, but I’m learning the kind of office skills that will help me get the job I want. It’s amazing how a little hard work got me not only a steady job, but a room I can call my own.
Thomas Maciel, Youth Crewmember, South Park
How he got involved: I was interested in gardening. My mom gave me a plant & I always used to watch over it. I don’t know what it was but it was a vine. My aunt lives [nearby]. We always use to pass by [Marra Farm] & I never knew about it! What he learned about gardening: It’s more than planting seeds. You have to weed, fertilize, keep weeds out, and water it. [You need to] weed and bring up soil so it’s new, fertilize and compost. Make sure you have an irrigation system unless you’re willing to water everyday. Organic gardening takes a lot more work…[but]…it’s healthier for you.
What’s the hardest thing about gardening? Coming out in the sun, cause it’s hot.
What’s your favorite things about Garden Works? Picking and eating the berries and plants. I was doing that with the sungolds. Weeding…pulling out weeds & junk and anything that’s not needed for the plant to grow.
What’s your favorite vegetable that
you've grown? Onions. They were the first thing I harvested while I was here.
What do you do outside of Garden Works? I usually skateboard, go on the internet, play video games.
After the crew season ends, are you still going to garden? In the fall, I’m going to do my community service hours here, and in the spring I’m gonna try to apply for the youth intern position.
Genel Perkens, Youth Crewmember, University District
I came to Seattle Youth Garden Works in the beginning of June, and I had just turned 16. It was my first job. I was very nervous for my interview but Pete was very nice and let me have the job. At first the job went by really slow and I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing—I messed up some. I was going through a really hard time: I didn’t have a stable place to stay and I was trying to change my life. Lindsay and Pete were very understanding of my situation by letting me have second chances when I took off to work out some problems.
I still have problems but now when I come to work I feel more comfortable because I know the routine and I feel calm working out in the garden. Seattle Youth Garden Works is a really good job if you are going through a hard, unstable time and you can’t find another job. Now I come to work everyday and I’m looking into a community college program. I got into the group home I was working towards. Now I’m going to work on a resume so I can get another job in the future. With my paycheck I like to go to Elliot Bay books and buy books.
Puck Kiehl Youth Crewmember, University District
I became homeless in a town called Amarillo, Texas. I had traveled nearly 2,500 miles when I arrived in Seattle in August of 2000 to work at Seattle Youth Garden Works. I’m a short kid with blue hair and a nose piercing. I thought that I had done and seen nearly everything. I’ve seen the United States from one side to the other. I’ve seen Europe from top to bottom. I’ve even been to a few Asian countries. Of all the things to change the perspective within which I saw things, I would not have expected it to be a youth program.
I was introduced to the program by the case-workers at the University District Youth Drop-in Center. I didn’t know much about gardens or gardening, but I figured, “Hey, it could be fun.” So I joined the program under the supervision of Lindsay Brown. I was a bit lost at first, not knowing which vegetables were right to harvest, not knowing how to do many of the “common” gardening tasks, and not even knowing what some of the vegetables were. I can say that I learned a lot though, and I’m glad that people like Lindsay were there to guide me.
I now know what a tomatillo and a daikon are. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful scenery on this plant, but for the first time, after working at SYGW, I am beginning to understand it. I don’t just say “Hey, that berry bush looks great doesn’t it?” Instead I can say, “Hey, that’s a raspberry bush.” I even know how to harvest it, and how to help it grow.
Of all the things I have learned from SYGW, I’m glad that I learned about how easy it is to plant garlic. If you know anything about growing garlic, you know what I mean when I say, “Why do people pay for garlic?” All together, I’m glad that the program is here because I don’t know what kids like me would do without it.
In Texas there is no Teen-feed, there is no shelter, there is no foodbank and most of all there are no jobs. Texas hates the homeless. If you’re dirty, have odd hair, don’t speak English, aren’t the right build and aren’t the right religion, there’s nothing for you. I just think that it’s beautiful that programs like this one exist.
Susan Youth Crewmember, University District
I joined Seattle Youth Garden Works out of desperation. I had no income and was risking my housing if I didn’t find some soon. I had no intentions of learning anything or improving myself. I wanted a paycheck. But things don’t always go as planned. It wasn’t too long after I started that I realized that there was so much more to be gained from the program than rent money.
Thanks to Seattle Youth Garden Works, I have learned gardening techniques like pruning and watering, and have gained specific knowledge of plants, how and why they grow, and how to keep them happy and healthy. I have learned tolerance for people from different backgrounds (when you have six or seven youth who have nothing in common except for homelessness, this is quite a feat). I have learned responsibility and leadership skills that will be vital for my future endeavors.
And most importantly, I have been able to do something meaningful myself and my community. By providing the University District with a steady supply of locally-grown organic produce, I have been able to do my part to improve the neighborhood and promote respect for our resources.
And when you do something meaningful, it gives your life meaning. Very few jobs give you this opportunity. Even fewer give you back what you put into them. Seattle Youth Garden Works is one of them.
