As a Farmers Market Intern working at The Food Project, I had the opportunity to visit the Southside Community Land Trust located in providence Rhode Island. Their farm was very unique and interesting and was not like any other farm I have ever seen. Although it has many similarities to what vegetables we grow at The Food Project, like swiss chard, herbs, and salad mix, they grew their plants in odd places that I would have never thought of. They grew their plants in abandoned shoes, buckets, and bathtubs. That part of their land really stood out to me, because who would have ever thought of planting in a shoe or and old bathtub? Rich, the City Farm manager, gave us such an exciting tour of their farm. I found it interesting that young children help to plant and take care of the land during the summer. I also learned that they make their own Herbal Lip Balm with the herbs that they grow and have a beehive to make honey. Rebeca Ramirez, also a Farmer’s Market Intern at The Food Project, and I had the opportunity to each have an Herbal Lip Balm (which indeed works very well!).

I hope that The Food Project will one day have the opportunity to be as creative as the Southside Community Land Trust because of the attraction that it brings to people. I know that if I was a person walking by who has never seen their farm, I would instantly be attracted to it because of the beauty it has and brings to their community. The Food Project also comes up with ideas of how to attract people to come to our Farmers Market located in Dudley Town Common. We have cooking demonstrations by the Kitchen Interns and the last Thursday of each month, we have entertainers to attract people. Hopefully in the future, The Food Project uses the creativity of the Southside Community Land Trust to attract people to our land in Roxbury. The creativity of the Southside Community Land Trust was truly amazing and I hope that they will get even more creative than they already are!