greetings garden family & friends,

great news! the WE Gardens Curb Market opens THIS SATURDAY, July 2, from 8 am to noon.

Come out to buy some fair trade goods and local produce! Proceeds benefit Urban Ministry, WE Gardens, Church Without Walls and local artisans.



a big part of our ‘growing food, growing community’ mission is hiring young people from the west end community. that being said, i am pleased to introduce you to one of our outstanding interns: Jamal Sanders.  

Jamal (above: center, below: right) instructs garden volunteers.



Jamal will be seventeen on June 29^th -  that would be TODAY!

He is a senior at Jackson Olin High School and his favorite pastimes are sports and brain teasers. Jamal is very active in his school’s JROTC program and is looking forward to a career in the military.

Jamal’s favorite fruit is watermelon and his favorite vegetable is collard greens.

Jamal is an awesome garden worker in that he always completes a task in an excellent and thorough matter. He also has a jubilant personality and a dazzling smile!

we feel tremendously privileged and honored that Jamal has chosen we gardens for his summer internship.

  

Above: interns Jamal and Antonio in the office enjoying pizza and ice cream after a long, hot morning of hard work.

happy birthday Jamal!

peace & gratitude,
ama

Crop of the month: OKRA



Interesting okra facts:

• Okra is a nutritious edible (hibiscus) flower and a member of the same family as cotton (malvaceae or mallow)
• Okra came to New Orleans via African slaves. The name comes from the West African Igbo word 'ọ́kụ̀rụ̀'
• In Angola, West Africa, the plant was called by the Bantu word 'kigombo.' The word was latter shortened to 'gombo'- hence the name ‘gumbo’!