Hello my name is Daniel Wasse.  I am the 5th/6th grade teacher at VLP. Every summer our 5th and 6th grade students have to choose a community service project. Last year, my students chose to focus on hunger and food insecurity. After researching the community gardens in Charles Village and visiting a few of them, they decided to work on the VLP youth garden. The garden had become severely overgrown during COVID. With the help of a couple of expert gardeners, Maya Kosok (a VLP parent) and Beth Tohn (VLP Board President), the students cleared out the weeds, put down weed covers and covered them with mulch, and covered the garden beds with a protective cover. As we were nearing the end of summer, the class developed a plan for next steps.

Photos of the youth garden in the summer of 2023 (post-covid).

During the 23-24 academic school year, the 5th and 6th graders advanced the ball forward a little more. They researched what native plants could be grown in Baltimore’s agricultural zone and decided what they wanted to plant. We were fortunate to have a seed library in the VLP library and had access to free organic seeds. The kids planted vegetables and flowers with the help of 3th and 4th graders and the beautiful result is plain to see. I encourage everyone to visit the youth garden and pick some cabbage, collard greens, giant cucumbers, lettuce, radishes and sweet peppers.

Photos of the youth garden after weeding, mulching, and planting.

“Yesterday, I had a student who had a pretty intense panic attack. She was hyperventilating and couldn’t stop her hand and leg from rapidly moving. I called her mother and informed her. She talked to her daughter and told her to take a brief walk. I told all the kids we would go to the community garden behind VLP and water the youth garden. The moment we walked outside all the kids groaned and complained about how hot the weather was. I told them we wouldn’t be long. We went to the garden and started watering and my student shaking stopped. She relaxed and was herself again in a very short period of time. I knew she was fine when she asked me if we all could stay longer in the garden. My students as well as a large number of volunteers worked hard on this garden so it can be a safe, serene space. I am happy we accomplished our goal.”- Daniel Wasse, Academic Teacher