By Jane Harrison
Jane Harrison, one of the Farm's earliest and most ardent supporters, reflects on the beginnings of the Farm and what attracted her to it.
Who knew that an email from Great Kids Farm Manager Greg Strella in 2008 would lead me into a marvelous and intensely satisfying web of events? Greg had recently been hired and was in need of volunteers. My first step was to respond to Greg’s plea. The second step was to get myself out to the Farm, which was still in fairly significant disarray but nevertheless plainly beautiful and full of immense promise.
Events accelerated after that because I immediately recognized that my daughter, Tania, who was a pupil in School 66 until her death at age 8, would have LOVED this magical place. How incredibly lucky that I had been searching for a project to which I could contribute funds in memory of my little girl. And here it was, complete with goats, chickens (until the fox satisfied his gustatory plans…), bees and glorious woods, potentially rich pastures and simple, marvelously sturdy stone buildings (everything, I should add, in serious need of care and repair!).
As the years have passed and I continue to witness the unfolding of this unique partnership between the Baltimore City Public Schools, its staff, and a cadre of dedicated volunteers, the gardener in me sees this partnership as a very special and beneficent hybrid creation! It is above all a peaceful place, seemingly far from the distracting—or even frightening—urban landscape (though a mere three miles from the city line). It’s a place where the joy and spontaneity of kids can flower and their curiosity can be channeled into deep learning about nature.
The ‘hybrid’ aspect though, is very important, in that there is a solid undergirding of academics and well-designed curricula that shape exciting impressions into more complex knowledge and understanding of how plants grow and flourish, yielding life-sustaining (and delicious!) produce. From these experiences, the larger lessons of why careful stewardship of our environment is so vital grow.
The final step, for me, was the pleasure of working with a dedicated team of resourceful people to establish Friends of Great Kids Farm. As a practical matter, funds are needed to supplement what City Schools can allocate to sustain all the functions of this wonderful living laboratory and working farm. But beyond financial support, Friends is able to tend to the details and frequently unexpected demands that a working educational farm requires in order to flourish.