The following is a guest post from Roland Regos, Battery Urban Farm Outreach Intern.
Hi! My name is Roland Regos: urban farmer, sustainability junky, health nut, and organic enthusiast. As Battery Urban Farm’s media outreach intern; I’ve had the privilege of working behind the scenes helping organize the farm’s activities. It’s been an awesome experience to say the least. Watching our young seedling students grow all summer with our delicious veggies has had a profound impact on my outlook on life. That enlightening feeling is not very uncommon at the farm though. Every visit is a new and exciting learning experience.
Harvesting sweet potatoes!
Some of my favorite moments at Battery Urban Farm have occurred at their monthly Saturday events. Each workshop has included engaging activities and featured fascinating guest speakers. Their final workshop of the year, on September 21st, proved to be a real treat!
The day’s events began with harvesting one of my favorite vegetables: sweet potatoes. Before I started working at the farm, I never knew that sweet potatoes grew underground. They utilize the nutrients within the soil; while absorbing the sun’s energy through their vines and leaves above ground. They’re rich in calcium, folate, potassium and beta-carotene. Also, they offer well beyond the recommended daily value of vitamin A; which is often noted for improving eye-sight, rejuvenating skin, and strengthening the immune system. I was surprised by how soft the potatoes were at this stage of their growth. You really needed to be patient and delicate, or risk breaking or puncturing the potatoes while unearthing them.
After volunteer hours, we all received a special visit from the Battery Conservancy’s own lead arborist. William Bryant Logan is a certified arborist and president of Urban Arborists, Inc., and has won numerous Quill and Trowel Awards from the Garden Writers of America and a Senior Scholar Award from the New York State chapter of the International Society of Arborists. He is on faculty at NYBG and is the author of Oak, Dirt (made into an award-winning documentary), and Air.
Tree Talk, with William Logan.
Mr. Logan, who led a “Tree Walk and Talk”, was incredibly knowledgeable and interesting to listen to. I wouldn’t normally have expected a soil specialist to be such a great orator and story teller, but Mr. Logan was both. He seemed to me like a walking encyclopedia full of all sorts of fun facts about the natural environment. Mr. Logan shared a wealth of wisdom about his meeting with the cheese nun of Massachusetts, continent-hopping Saharan sand particles, and man made landfills like the one which Battery Park was cultivated on. It felt like an intimate dialogue, despite the good-sized group that had gathered for the event.
I left the workshop that day with a refined sense of purpose. The days activities and interactions, as well as Bill Logan and the other guest speakers from past events, have all helped to reinforce my passion for environmental initiatives and the need to educate young people about the natural world and sustainable foods.
Acknowledging soil.
The interconnectedness of our eco-systems is fragile, and its stability is dependent upon the actions of its inhabitants. For this reason, I hold Battery Urban Farm in such high esteem because of the Conservancy’s dedication to such important ideals. New York City is truly blessed to have such forward thinking, eco-friendly people in a position to influence the green movement. The inter-generational mentorship between farm staff and visiting children and students that takes place during these monthly community events and every week in classes on the farm, will surely yield a flourishing crop of talented leaders capable of tackling 21st century challenges.
Roland Regos is a multi-faceted, jack-of-all trades, but a master of none kind of guy. He’s a performing drummer and percussionist, a passionate advocate for social and environmental justice, an educator, a practicing vegan, and an organic food junkie.