- Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bloomington Rotary Club's weekly celebration of service. I'm Steve Wicks
- and I'm honored to serve as your president for another three months. Please silence. I haven't calculated
- hours, no. Please silence your electronic devices. On this day in history, March 31st, 1943, the musical
- Oklahoma premiered on Broadway.
- It would go on to set a Broadway record of 2,212 performances. And you can enjoy Oklahoma at our Mac
- during two weekends in April. Will not be the same cast. Tim Jessen will deliver today's reflection.
- Thank you, Steve. It's not yet April Fool's Day, but tomorrow is the Paschal
- You should look up and see it. And Passover. And this is Holy Week for Christians. The last time I reflected
- here was on Lent and Ramadan, the Islamic holiday. And so this week on Passover and Easter, you'll have
- to wait till two more holidays come together before I'm here.
- So I had ideas. I thought I'd invite the great baritone singer who sings in our choir at the First Christian
- Church and invite him to sing something for Passover. After all, we do have singing here. His grandparents
- emigrated here from Russia, and he has relatives in Israel. But then he told me, I have a class conflict.
- I can't come that time. Next idea.
- do a new thing. I thought I'd converse with Joy Harder from here and she would be on Zoom. Our president
- likes to do new things. I thought that's a new thing. But Joy is not available today. She and I grew
- up in neighboring counties at the foot of the Catskill Mountains in New York State. We didn't know each
- other very well, partially because she was Jewish.
- And I was an evangelical Christian. She was going to tell stories of Passover Seder's that she enjoyed.
- And I was going to talk about Easter. Now I will say that we didn't have egg hunts in the Hudson River
- Valley. It was too cold. And we didn't have sunrise services for the same reason. But our family had
- great Easter baskets.
- Our mother fixed as carefully as she fixed the Christmas stockings. We didn't have Easter ham out of
- respect for our Jewish neighbors. But Joy couldn't be here. So that possibility is out. But what can
- we learn about these two great holidays and seasons of reflection? Others like Aaron Davis could
- tell you far more, and I hope that he will. Elma and I were interrupted in our trip to Israel by the
- present war that is still going on, and so we stayed in Egypt where stories of Moses' rescue are still
- told. Both the stories of the rescue of the children of Israel out of Egypt and the crucifixion are
- stories of redemption. Think about it.
- Yes, that brings the holidays together. How can we possibly redeem these awful days that we're living
- through? The stories of war, anti-Semitism, intense polarization. My suggestion is this. Keep doing
- the things that you're doing. Food bank, beacon.
- Refugees, Meals on Wheels, Scholarship for the Young, and all the good things that you Rotarians do.
- That is how we can best redeem this difficult time. Turn off the TV. Social networking. Think how glad
- we are that we are together on these auspicious occasions.
- So happy Passover, happy Easter, happy spring. I think it was St. Francis that said, if you knew the
- world was going to end tomorrow, plant a tree today. Go and do likewise. Celebrate new life and redemption,
- my friends. Thank you.
- Tim, thank you, and also thank you for answering my plea last week for a reflection speaker today. Katie
- Cerniak in the back of the room will deliver today's reflection. Oh, not reflection, sorry. Katie will
- introduce our guest today. And then she will also do our drawing for the charity of the quarter for
- the next quarter. Wow. That's exciting. OK, thank you.
- Hello, everyone. We have three guests today in person and we have guests online as well, it sounds like.
- So when I say your name, please stand so that we can properly welcome you. We have Suzanne Bexter Fleming,
- guest of Liz Fiddle. We have Brad Meyer, guest of Steve Engel. And Becky Wan, also a guest of Steve Engel.
- And you say we have good guests online? We do not have any guests online. Thank you. OK. Great. Thanks,
- Lori. OK. OK, now for the charity of the quarter. Most of you know that each quarter, we draw a charity,
- name of a charity, out of a hat. And for a long time, we've been giving that charity $100 for the quarter.
- Here lately, we've been doing $200. The charity this quarter has been Amethyst South. So what Katie
- is going to draw is
- the charity for the next quarter. So hand in, just pull out. And the charity is Wheeler Mission. Okay,
- birthdays. We have lots of birthdays to celebrate. Today, our club treasure, John Zote, is celebrating
- a birthday.
- Tomorrow, Steve Moberly and Sandy Keller. On the second, past club president Sarah Laughlin, Jeff Bradley,
- Patrick Smith. On the third, Tina Peterson and Leanna Powell. And on the fourth, club director Lynn
- Schwartzberg. Lots of anniversaries as well. Anniversaries include tomorrow, April 1st, Tina Swanson,
- 37 years, Monica Croner, 36 years,
- Allen Boyd, two years. Don and Melinda Cedar, one year. Marcy Hibbard, Rebecca Thomas, one year. On
- the second, Whitney Cordoba, two years. Also on the second, Sue Scambaleri, two stints with the club,
- eight years total. So lots of birthdays and anniversaries. Announcements, please register for the Rotary
- District Conference, May 8th and 9th, Galtz House in Louisville.
- Lots of fun sessions Friday night. Lots of educational networking seminars on Saturday. Link will be
- in the roundabout. You can register at rotaryallstars.com. Next Meals on Wheels service opportunity,
- May 1st, 10 AM to noon. See Diana Hoffman if you'd like to volunteer or if you'd like more information.
- Big upcoming club service project on April 18th.
- 10 AM to 1230. We'll be working with the Lake Monroe Water Fund to plant native trees near Stillwater
- Marsh, which is east of Bloomington. We need 20 volunteers. Sign up link will be in the roundabout.
- So please up. And Michelle is holding up. Is that a hard copy that you can sign up on your tables? OK.
- So you can complete that and then hand it in when you're done.
- Next quarter of volunteer assignments, lots of meeting roles that need to be filled. You should have
- received an email from Mandy asking you to sign up. You can also find this link in the roundabout. Most
- immediate need is a Zoom host for next week. Laurie Garrity stepped up this week. We need someone to
- do the same next week. Community Service Committee will meet next week immediately after this week meeting.
- Please plan to attend if you're a community service committee member or if you're interested in joining
- the committee. Much of next week's meeting will concern the next iteration of the district grant. Both
- Dave Meyer, Michelle Cohen, and Sarah Laughlin, all three of whom are very involved in this,
- are here today. Feel free to ask them questions. Rotary Book Group gathering is April 15th, 7 p.m. at
- the home of Judy Schroeder.
- Book this time is Audrey McCluskey's Girl Child. See Sally Gaskell or Judy Schroeder if you have questions.
- My Sister's Closet, hosting an evening with Maya Angelou Dinner Theater, April 10th and 11th. They planned
- an elegant event at the Bloomington Country Club. Proceeds will benefit the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra
- and My Sister's Closet Relocation Fund. More information, see Sandy Keller or Marcy Hibbard.
- or go to the My Sister's Closet website. I'll have a very long detailed announcement about our April
- 14th meeting when I do my slides. And then also starting next week, as I did today, I'm going to start
- at 12.02. We're trying to allow a little bit of extra time for our working members who are on a tighter
- schedule to get in and get their meals, also members who are having a parking problem.
- So just an extra couple of minutes before I start. And Tyler, let's go ahead and go with the PowerPoint.
- So we'll start with a celebration of service. On Friday, a couple of us worked at Meals on Wheels. We
- packed 100 meal kits for groceries to go.
- Diana Hoffman was the brains of the operation, how she and I did the work. You can see a picture of
- the three of us. And behind Diana is one of the refrigerator freezing units that our club, as part of
- last year's district grant Meals on Wheels, purchased that. And it really has widened their ability
- to meet community needs. OK.
- So the membership quiz for today. One of these Rotarians did not grow up on the US East Coast. Your
- choices are Gus Chakalas, Lynn Schwartzberg. I'm your third choice. Melinda Cedar is your fourth choice.
- So when I call it out, raise your hands for the person you think is the person who did not grow up on
- the US East Coast. Those of you on Zoom, please raise your hand electronically.
- So how many votes do we have for Gus Chakalas? Raise your hand if you think that Gus grew up somewhere
- other than the US East Coast. Oh. Boy, Gus, you didn't do very well. I'm sorry. All right, second choice,
- Lynn Schwartzberg. Put up your hand if you think that Lynn grew up somewhere other than the US East
- Coast. Oh.
- Lynn and Gus, I hope you're doing better online than you're doing in the room. OK, your third choice.
- If you think I am the person who did not grow up on the US East Coast, raise your hand. Aha. I finally
- won something. But let's go all the way through. Your fourth choice, Melinda Cedar. Put up your hand.
- Oh, Melinda, you're doing very well. OK. I'd say almost as many as I have.
- So none of you voted for Gus. And boy, you were right on. Gus, born in Manhattan. He grew up in the
- Bronx and Queens. He is as Big Apple as it gets. And here's a nice picture of Gus and Connie. Gus asked
- me before the meeting, wanted to make sure that I picked an appropriate picture. And I think I did.
- Those of you who voted for Lynn Schwartzberg, which is none of you,
- Lynn was born in East Orange, New Jersey, grew up in Fairlawn, New Jersey. Here's a picture of Lynn
- doing something with bar. I don't know what, but I imagine it's very difficult, and I can't do it. If
- you voted for me, you're wrong. So I was born in Marstown, New Jersey. I grew up in Irony, New Jersey.
- It's an area that supplied iron.
- to the colonial army in the Revolutionary War, hence the name Ironia. And if you picked Melinda Cedar,
- you were wrong. Terre Haute native, Melinda moved to California as a teenager. Oh, that's right, yeah.
- OK, let me try this again. So Melinda moved to California. Luckily, with the case of all of us,
- As is the case with many in the club, we have lots of members from somewhere else and they've all found
- their way to Bloomington and hopefully all of us are making a difference. A reminder, Happy Dollar proceeds
- in March and April will be given to the Bloomington Rotary Foundation. We don't have plans for Happy
- Dollars today. Rotary's seven areas of focus, which I've shown before.
- And we're finishing March, which has been water, sanitation, and hygiene month. Now, the involved
- announcement. April 14th, two weeks from today, do not come to the union. Don't go here. Don't go to
- the French Panier Room. Don't go to the Georgian Room. The union, our agreement with the union, they
- have the right to ask us to not meet certain times during the year when they're especially busy. April
- 14th is one of those days.
- OK. And so we're going to be meeting that day at the Heading Home Regional Housing Summit. Be at the
- Monroe County Convention Center. It's an all-day affair. Gosh, this thing is just kind of going on its
- own. All-day affair, 8.30 to 5 PM. There will not be a Zoom option that day, so I apologize for that.
- So some specifics. You can go online to Heading Home.
- dot org and register, which will cost you $25. Or for the great price of $15.11, you can sign up through
- the club. And we'll have an old-fashioned sign-up sheet outside. We'll be emailing you a sign-up genius
- electronic link if you want to do it electronically. Club option, once again, is $15.11, includes the
- program and lunch. And then you'll be invoiced at the end of the quarter as if it were a regular meal.
- Sign up deadline is next week, April 7th. And once you register and we register with the event, even
- if you can't make it, you'll be billed. Here's the agenda. And this is probably very hard to read. Lots
- of breakout sessions. If you want to come for the whole day, that's great. But if you want to get your
- lunch, lunch is at 1145.
- And then there's a panel afterwards, and then the keynote speaker is speaking at 1.30. Theme of the
- day, exploring innovative approaches to housing that can be implemented in South Central Indiana, resulting
- in stable places to live for all residents. I have one club member.
- who is a housing advocate on behalf of Bloomington Rotary for the event. So thank you very much for
- that. Same club member is paying the difference so that members pay $15.11 for lunch instead of $25
- for lunch. To the best of my knowledge, parking should be free behind the convention center. So we hope
- you can make it. Once again, unlike a regular weekly meeting when you can kind of show up and we don't
- need to know in advance, this will be one where you need to sign up
- so that we can give a head count with names to heading home so that when you arrive there on the 14th,
- you'll be on a list and you'll be able to get in free of charge. OK. We had a Paul Harris ceremony planned
- for today. That isn't going to happen. We had some technical issues. So I think we're ready, Wilson,
- if you want to introduce our speakers for today.
- Good afternoon, my fellow Rotarians. It's truly my pleasure to introduce to us today two remarkable
- individuals, Robert Fu and Yuan Carlos. Since first connecting with Robert and Yuan in early 2022, they
- have become not only dear friends, but also very valued mentors. When I learned they would be joining
- us today, I asked if
- they might bring along some fresh produce from some promissor farm. And they graciously arrived with
- spinach. I have a whole bag of spinach over there. Please see me privately. I could share some of that.
- So thank you. Thank you so much, Robert and Yuan. I really appreciate your generosity.
- Now, something interesting that Robert and Yuan have shared with me is that their journey into farming
- did not begin in agriculture, but in a shared belief that land can transform lives and strengthen
- communities. And so I invite you to stay tuned to learn more. So Robert and Yuan, we are truly grateful
- to have you here with us today.
- And now I would like to invite us to give our guest a warm rotary welcome, but in a Kenyan style. Okay.
- In Kenya, when we receive important guests, we show our appreciation through rhythmic clapping and gentle
- stamping. So this is how it goes. We clap one, two, three, and one, two, three, and welcome. Welcome.
- Yuan, we love you. We appreciate you. Thank you for coming. Welcome. Stop. Please, you're welcome, our
- good friend.
- Good morning. Good afternoon. I'm going to try my best to stay right here because I understand there's
- a limitation with the camera and it's not going to be moving. So are we both in a good position to be
- seen by the Zoom crowd? Yes. So I don't need to worry so much about speaking close to this mic here,
- do I, since I have this on?
- It's very nice to be here. And I sense there's a lot of kindred spirits and just some of the stories
- and things that were set up here after we had sat down. So it's always important to be a part of a community
- and to play a role in the community also.
- In the year 2002, we met someone very special from Bloomington. We met Lucille Bertuccio. And it was
- through Lucille that we really started our journey being a part of Bloomington. And we were living in
- Brown County at the time, but we had really a strong desire to meet more people in Bloomington.
- and in a community that had been very welcoming and open to people from many places and many different
- kinds of backgrounds. And so Lucille was a dynamic personality and someone that we clung to and stayed
- under her wing for many, many years. We learned a lot about the care of the environment
- and about native species and plants. And we created a huge garden in Brown County, focused on that.
- We also became a part of the program that Lucille was leading through the Center for Sustainable Living,
- which was through the National Wildlife Federation, was the backyard habitat program. And we learned
- to become backyard habitat stewards.
- We did several classes where we trained others to be a part of that program. We installed backyard habitats
- in people's yards, in churches, businesses, not-for-profits, and schools and hospitals. And through
- those years, we developed good relationships and long-lasting relationships with the people who were
- stewards along
- with us and we continued to laugh at a lot of the adventures that Lucille got herself into with the
- city of Bloomington and trying to stay under the radar with how yards were cared for and what it was
- to raise natives within the city. So in a few years after getting involved in that program,
- We helped Bloomington become a citywide habitat community. It was only the 25th in the nation. And it
- was a big accomplishment for us and for those who were working with us. So when this was all done and
- we got our recognition from the mayor of Bloomington at the time, we looked at each other and we said,
- what's next? And so we had a desire to grow food.
- and move a little bit beyond only growing natives, although we wanted to keep that a part of what we
- were doing. And we decided that the way to do that was to create a farm, to create a 21st century farm
- with a piece of land that really was not in the best condition. And we wanted to bring it back to life.
- And so in 2012, we founded Sobera Mesa Farm,
- And the idea of the farm was that we would not just have a farm that was raising food for us, but we
- wanted to share that farm with the community around us. So we created a structure of bringing in schools
- and senior citizen groups. What else was it we brought? Tours for the community. Tours for the community.
- And so we had to
- start from the ground up with just a piece of land that had cattle on it and nothing else, and it did
- not have access to water, to municipal water. And in Monroe County and Brown County both, very difficult
- to be able to drill for a well. And so this land was in Monroe County. It was really close to Unionville. And
- So we decided that we would try our best to get municipal water, and in the end, we finally did. We
- also brought a barn from Fort Wayne area, and we had the barn reconstructed by a group of Amish. It
- was a barn from 1850, and it was an English threshing barn. It was not the type of barn you would find
- in southern Indiana. And then we brought a hoop house,
- for growing food through help with the NRCS Natural Resource Conservation Service. And we created a
- structure for tools and another barn was built by the Amish for the goats and the chickens. And finally
- in the end in 2018, we built a house.
- So it was really a six year journey of trying to create a barn from the bottom up and trying to grow
- orchards and perennials and annuals and try to improve the way the land was, the resources that were
- falling on the land we wanted to capture and that required utilizing permaculture principles. And we
- dove into that
- head on and didn't even have our certificate in permaculture yet after we'd already started the farm.
- But we knew that was really a concept that we agreed with because it included natives and it included
- animals. And so from that, we finished creating the farm and then finally in around, I think,
- Somewhere in there between 2014 and 2016, we had a visit from the Washington Mandela Fellows. They came
- to Bloomington. It was a program that was created under the Obama administration in 2014. And they were
- a group of young professional Africans who came from various nations. And there was a group of thousands
- of them that came to the United States.
- They visited different cities. They were divided into groups of about 20 or 30 people and they came
- to Bloomington. When we learned they were coming, we really wanted to welcome them and come to our farm.
- And we learned so much from them in that one day. And we learned that, you know, this was really something
- that was an inspiration for us.
- and that we needed to make sure that we included other cultures in the sort of in the movement and in
- the advancement of the farm. We reached out to Exodus refugees in actually they were only in Indianapolis
- at that time. We did not have a program set up yet in Bloomington. And so we tried to get people to
- come to work with us at the farm.
- We knew that there were people who were refugees that came to Indiana that had a lot of experience in
- growing food and would certainly have different ideas and different skills than what we had. And we
- wanted to learn from them and we wanted to teach them. And so we were successful eventually in bringing
- refugees to the farm and we were able to train six of them
- over the course of the last few years. And we worked closely with Exodus in providing what we felt was
- really a form of employment for people who didn't have a lot of great options in Bloomington. And we
- knew that there was healing in the land. Putting your fingers into the soil is a way to heal the spirit
- and the soul. And so that's very emotional for me, excuse me.
- will continue. So yes, through the process, we saw the transformation when they go after, you know,
- living with trauma and all the experiences, how slowly they were changing and really being part of a
- community that we need were farmers here. So we decided from there to start teaching.
- them how to grow on a seasonal environment because a lot of them come from the tropics like myself.
- So they knew or they know how to grow food, especially summer crops, but not the ones from the cold
- season. So then we decided the best way would be let's create a foundation because we need the support,
- funds especially, to really put a program that we will be able to teach them
- create like internship, they would be paid well and after that they could stay at the farm or the location
- farming and create a micro business. They could learn how to do a CSA or sell a farm stand. Anyway,
- so we, yeah, be integrated in the community even with the limitations of English, they still would be
- a very, very important thing for us here. So that's what we did.
- we create a foundation. And one of our board members used to be the director of IU Campus Farm. And
- he told us IU doesn't want to do or continue with the program. And we started a relationship with the,
- what is the name of the place? Sorry, the- Inkle Garden. Yes, thank you. So from there, we,
- we got a grant and we were able to lease the land. So now the training farm, let's say that way, is
- going to be here in town, which is much easier for them. They could walk, bike, or take a bus to go
- to the place. And the idea, so we are going to start like a community farm
- which all of them will farm together, share responsibilities, and share the produce to the community.
- So in the excess or the abundance, we will be sent to a bank or food bank. And we already have a relationship
- with a penalty 279. And so that's what we're going to do, something else. Part of the seed money that
- came to help us support the project, came through Farm Aid. Probably many of you have heard of that.
- A group of musicians started that in the early 1980s, and it's gone on to be really a nationwide event
- hosted in various states. In 2023, it was hosted in Fishers, Indiana, and they invite us to be one of
- the featured farms at the event. So through that relationship,
- Um, we sort of, uh, asked for support. We got it. And we have tried to work with a grant writer since
- then also. And that has been very challenging because as you know, grants are very limited now and more
- people are trying to get the same grant as everyone else is. So it's extremely competitive.
- And we have had minimal success with the grants, but we were not, we were not giving up our passion
- to do this project and to do yet something else for the community of Bloomington, for refugees, immigrants,
- and for other people also who wish to become a part of an emerging farmer training. So that's really
- where we are now.
- We've been hitting the apartment complexes, the housing areas all around what is now we're calling the
- Daisy Garden Community Farm. And we've already gotten several people very interested and we're excited
- to see what they bring, the energy they bring and to create something that is unique in Bloomington.
- It's very different than a community garden
- where people have small plots. The idea behind this is really focused on trying to bring people together
- to create a farm, to work together, to take care of everybody's crops, and everybody gets to share in
- the abundance, and we get to give back. And we give back to pantries where many of the same people are
- already going and trying to feed their families from those pantries.
- So we're going to start now with the slides. So as you can see here in this picture, it's a group of
- people who look like they're at a workshop. And the gentleman on the right is Jairo Restrepo. He lives
- in Colombia and was born there.
- He has traveled around the world and we were very lucky to have him here in Bloomington twice so far.
- Three times. Three times so far. He does a workshop and intensive training for four days on specific
- type of regenerative agriculture, creating amendments and learning how to bring to the land what you
- are produced at the land, which you already have there. This picture here is a part of the area where
- we're growing food. We use a lot of companion planting, because if you recall, I mentioned
- about permaculture. And this is the same type of concept that we want to use at the Daisy Garten community farm.
- The produce that we're going to be growing, again, it's to help many of the participants to feed their
- families and also to grow, we're going to be growing in abundance so that they can find other people
- in their community, whether it's their church community or their language community, their friend network
- who would be interested in
- supporting them through this venture by purchasing a community-supported ag share. And the idea is that
- they're going to be earning while they learn. So there'll be growing food and selling food and we'll
- be acting sort of as the arm that's the market manager for them.
- That's our mission statement. This young gentleman here is from Syria. His name is Wael and he's been
- at our farm for almost three years. This talks about the
- the foundation and how the farm was working closely with the foundation to provide some of the support
- and partial infrastructure. And this is our team on the board right now. We are looking for more board
- members. That's it. I think that's all. So we would love to hear from you if you have questions.
- We would be happy to answer them. Where is your farm located? So the farm is close to Unionville on
- Mount Gilead Road. It's probably from here, 20 minutes at the most, depending on the traffic. Yeah,
- I see some bikers here that pass by. I just saw them. So it's a really friendly road for bikers, too.
- Hi, I was wondering if you're going to have a farm stand as well as the CSA. Yes, we are. Yes. There
- is one question here.
- Really upright. I saw James Farmer's name there. And if I recall correctly, he was doing the IU garden.
- And I think that is no more. And that space, are you using that space there? Right there on, we all
- know where it is there, on 10th and Fee Lane. Right. So this is where you have
- some of the training going on. Yes. Yes. Okay. So that people don't have to get out to Mount Gilead
- Road. No, no, but if you want, you're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to get that clarified.
- Yeah. I get you exercising. We were at,
- Sober Mesa Farm a few years ago with the fourth grade or third grade visits. Our Rotary Club, it was
- our district grant for that year. Maybe some of, I don't know, were any of you, any other of you there?
- Yeah, Sally was there. But I'm wondering if that's still going on. Can they still do the farm to school
- program? They will do that again in the fall. I believe September, October probably, yeah. We got an email.
- from Stephanie, who is the person in charge coordinating the program at the beginning of March.
- So in May, she said we will exchange more emails to find the dates for the schools to come. What part
- of this are you doing at the Henkel farmhouse area? So mostly the training. So we will teach them how to
- work through the seasons and use high tunnels or hoop houses to extend the season. So they could go
- farther close to December or overwinter the crops. That way we will have food or they will have food
- all year round. Welcome.
- Thank you so much, Robert and Yuan, for your presentation. Mine is not a question, but just a word of
- appreciation. I know I worked with you on Sobromesa Farm. When I met Robert and Yuan, I had been requested
- by Exodus Refugees Immigration to go to the Sobromesa Farm to help with the translation, because they
- were working with immigrants from East Africa
- who actually had zero skills of English communication skills. And so they could only speak Swahili and
- so they needed a translator. So I went there and worked with Robert and Yuan and they were doing amazing
- job because their activity was transformational. They were getting these immigrants who came here with
- zero skills
- with no employment opportunity and started them off by offering them employment, nurturing them. And
- it was just amazing to see the growth of those immigrants. And I just want to appreciate you and thank
- you so much for that amazing job.
- We're going to get two for one here. How do you decide which animals? I mean, the goats and chickens
- are an interesting combination. And then about the vegetation that you're planting, what are you planting
- this year? That's a very good question and a tricky one. So animals are a very important part of the
- cycle when you try to create an ecosystem.
- Like in the woods, there are so many creatures contributing to the fertilization of the woods. So we
- are trying to do the same here. So we bring animals to help with the manure, help to the pest control,
- and also to the enjoyment when you see those dogs, guinea fowl, and the goats running around. So that's
- also good for our soul.
- Thank you very much for this. Would you explain one more time, where is the farmer's market going to
- be, the farm stand going to be? So the Hinkle Garden Farmstead, which is there across from IU, some
- of the IU buildings, and it's really, the whole property is on the corner, basically, at Pete Ellis Drive.
- and 10th Street or 45. And so a portion of that farm has been rented out previously to create the IU
- campus farm. That's about eight acres. And so that section there is where we're going to be farming.
- There are hoop houses there. There's a fence that was constructed. There's orchards. There are some
- other perennial crops there as well. And there are bees there.
- So we're excited to manage that. And we're going to allow part of that decision about what is going
- to be grown as far as annual crops to the participants. Some of them may have very specific ideas about
- types of crops they want to grow. And we'll have to try to help adapt that idea maybe to things that
- will be more successful in the Indiana climate.
- But certainly vegetables around the world share a lot of things in common. And so I think we can find
- something that will work. We've been very fortunate. We got a lot of donations from companies for seeds.
- We've tried really hard to get donations for tools. We're still working on that. And yeah. I was into it.
- You probably all know the post office on 10th Street. It's just across from the post office. Any questions?
- So what's the backstory? How did you guys get together? How did you decide to embark on this? What's
- the origin story? Well, we both met here at IU. Juan Carlos was taking classes in
- English? English. And I was here interpreting. I was interpreting in the program for a young lady who
- was from Puerto Rico. And I was a trilingual interpreter, so I knew Spanish, American Sign Language,
- and English. And so I was using all those three languages with her to help her move through the program
- to learn English.
- And we met in the hallway one day and also at the, what was that house called? The International House.
- Yeah. And so every Thursday they would have like a coffee hour and it was like United Nations. Everybody
- was supposed to be there practicing English, but that was not happening. Everybody was practicing culture,
- their culture. And so they would all form into groups and they were all
- speaking in their own language. And I was able to sort of navigate the Spanish department and help bring
- this young lady into that and help her communicate with them. So that's where we met. And that's how
- it all got started. Yeah. And for me, it was, I mean, I didn't know English then, so it was a good way
- to connect to the community in town. And that's why we started volunteering with Lucille at the CSL.
- I saw there was another question. I'll say I'll throw in one real quick one, too. So the reason they're
- here today is that Liz Irwin said, I know this thing called the some rest of some remains of foundation
- is run by a guy named Robert fruit. And I'm like, what? I know, Robert, how this I don't understand
- the connection here. So I've known Robert for 10 years as an ASL interpreter. He's been supplying ASL
- interpreters to me in the community for various programs that I run it at the
- at the city. And so I was like, Oh, yeah, I'd love to connect up with them. But Wilson probably knows
- them a lot better. So let's have them introduce them. So how does that come into play? I mean, you're
- doing that full time, right, Robert? And you're doing this farming. So really, you know, farmers have
- to juggle a lot of different things in today, particularly when you're not doing traditional crops like
- corn, bean and, and wheat.
- So we have to have all farm jobs. And both of us work as interpreters. And I had an interpreting agency.
- I still do. I'm still using that to help support the farm and to help with all facets of it, including
- working with the foundation. So that interpreting agency provides interpreters in many different languages.
- We do some of that for IU, do it for the state of Indiana, and for a lot of doctor's offices. That's
- really the core in hospitals throughout sort of the central and south central part of Indiana. And so
- that's how that is sort of woven into the farm. And we might have a question online. Laurie, was there
- anybody? No?
- Okay. The thing that fascinated me the most when we were there was the idea that of climate change,
- you know, agriculture, ahead of climate change, and you were growing things that that were right on
- the northern possible most possible moment, you know, part of the country thinking that
- things were going to be moving north. Could you talk about that a little bit? Do you want to mention?
- Okay. So, you know, one of the things that attracted us originally to doing the farming was number one,
- natives, and they're very resilient. And there are a lot of natives that provide food and sometimes
- superfoods and
- We also relied upon permaculture to help us in the selection of different cultivars that were coming
- from Kentucky and in the hopes that as climate was changing here, things were warming up, that we would
- be able to grow things, which when I grew up in, I'm from Kokomo originally, we were in zone five at
- that time.
- went to 5A, 5B, and really now we're sort of 6A. And so that transition is really accommodated a lot
- through permaculture. And so we chose those cultivars that could deal with some of that weather. You
- try to purchase trees, fruiting trees that are dwarf and semi-dwarf, that are considered late blooming.
- And sometimes that was not possible. We ended up with a few early blooming things. And that has been
- a challenge every year. We have them there for the beauty, for the bees, which is important, very important.
- But we don't often get fruit from them because we now have so many changes in weather patterns.
- And this year, for example, we will have very few pairs. If any, we will have no plums. Uh,
- we will not have, possibly not have peaches. We'll see. Um, and apples we don't know yet. So that's
- really the state of the affairs of farmers.
- in Indiana and through this whole belt that runs through the Midwest. And it's a difficult journey for
- all of us. Yeah, and I want to say too, so since we don't use any chemicals, so it's always experimentation
- and learning how we're going to work with nature that benefits us with the special fruits that we're growing.
- But yeah, it's a huge challenge for not only for us, for all the farmers in all the places here in North
- America, Europe too. It's going to be tough. Can I just mention, since I'm online, that you can go to
- their website and sign up for their newsletter and also to get information on their CSA?
- Robert and Juan Carlos, thank you very much for most interesting presentation. I think you have a room
- full of future customers here. So hopefully, the weather will cooperate. I want to thank you for the
- presentation. In honor of your talk, a donation we made this quarter to Amethyst House, I'd like to
- thank today's volunteers, Ruth Boschkopf, Katie Cerniak, Wilson Cetandi, Laurie Garrity, Kim Jessen,
- Ashley Wesley, Michael Shermas, Jeff Richardson, Mike Baker. Our next regular meeting will be April
- 7th, will be downstairs in the Georgian room. Club member Dr. Mark A. Winston will speak to us about
- strong schools, strong community, strong future. Please join us. So Tyler, if you'd put up the graphic
- for the four way test, please stand if you are able and join me
- of the things we think, say, or do. First, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concern? Third,
- will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concern? And fifth,
- is it fun?