I'm a gardener

Today I had an audience for my PT session. Apparently people dont exercise for fun in Camden and my girls and I put on quite a show. :) Camden has definitely proven to be an interesting and wonderful place for me. We have discovered all sorts of jems in this city. The most recent being MiniMarket #1 located just across the street. I can get a can of soda and a fudgesicle for a mere 85 cents. And the owner, Jose, loves us! I can also get HomeGirl Chips and Rap Snacks there! I suppose that in order to appreciate this bit of info you have to see them. For now just take my word for it. We have also tested our tastebuds with treats from other corner markets such as Litwin's which is right near one of our community gardens. They have the best Spanish meat pies and potato balls I have ever tried. Mmmmm mmm.

Our work at the Camden Children's Garden continues to be amazing every day. We usually split up into two groups each day. One group stays at the Children's Garden and the other group goes out into the city to work on one of the community gardens. There are about 60 community gardens throughout Camden so we get to see a lot of the area in which we live. So far, I havent seen a garden that I dont like. That is true to the garden itself and to the gardeners. The gardeners love our help and they usually show it with superfluous praises, cold drinks, sweet snacks, or lunches! Its also so wonderful to see such a wide variety of camden residents who enjoy gardening. This week we got to help residents of a low income housing building start their new garden. A few folks were all about it but others were a bit more apprehensive. We stayed to help them transplant a bunch of veggies and to give them a few pointers but in the end they have the greatest effect on thier plots. I sure hope their interst sticks through the whole growing season so that they can eat so many wonderful veggies!
Working at the Children's Garden also has its perks. The garden staff is still amazing and its great to be able to joke around and have a good time with your bosses. We are just helping the garden recover after the winter here as well. Lots of weeding, planting flowers and veggies, painting, rearranging, watering, and even a bit off office work. Working at both of the locations, my team has greatly broadened our range of outdoor skills!! We are getting really good at weeding, picking up trash, planting, harvesting, and mulching. It may not sound like exciting work but it really is and Im having so much fun with my team. Any job that I can do in the sunshine with friends is a good one for me. We even find fun things to do during our downtime. We ARE working in a children's garden after all :) We can play in the dinosaur garden, sit in the Queen's chair in the Alice in Wonderland garden, explore the butterfly house, take a ride on the train, or spin around on the carousel...the choices are plentiful!

Camp Conowingo, we hold you in our hearts!

Camden NJ....what a sight!

We are starting our new project this week at the Camden Children's Garden. We left MD on Friday much to our dismay. Camp Conowingo was a wonderful place to have our first project because it was easy work and fun afternoons. We spent most of our working hours picking up sticks, raking leaves, maintaining trails, and trying to stretch out our work so that we can have a full work day. The work was easy so that gave us plenty of time to goof off and enjoy each other's company. Our sponsors were also awesome. Dennis and Jeff work at the camp year round and it is just to two of them on the 600 acre camp. My team saved the two of them about a month of work beautifing the camp.
Working there also allowed us to do some great team bonding! Because we were well secluded there were two options for my team. We could have either learned to hate each other with so much time to get on everyone's nerves...or we could have enjoyed the company that each one of us had to give. Luckily we learned to love each other! We played lots of games, had a few bonfires, asked lots of get to know you questions, and went exploring together. We even got to tell ghost stories in a haunted manor at midnight! We had no internet access and no cell phone reception so it was great to get out of the daily grind. I learned that I LOVE to go trail running, that any body of water can calm my brain, and that using a latrine is 10 times better when it has pictures of ponies and princesses painted inside :)

But alas, now we are in Camden, NJ. Its pretty much a 180 turn around. But, despite the negative stigma and the high crime rates of this place, I am really enjoying myself. We do have wireless and cell phone reception at our housing so thats always nice. And I am very excited for our project. We got to do a walk around at the project site on Sat and the garden looks like it will be a blast! Its so colorful, there are rides and mazes, and we can see penguins! 5 weeks in Camden may not be so bad :)