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first_nations_freaksHow Cherokee farming traditions are transforming one Texas school
The Central Texas Cherokee Township and nonprofit Partners for Education, Agriculture and Sustainability, or PEAS, grow Native crops including corn and beans on a small farm at Cunningham to teach students and families about sustainable agriculture, culture and history.
PEAS has partnered with Austin ISD schools for 15 years. Two years ago, the organization began working with Central Texas Cherokees to plant Native seeds at Cunningham. Now, students and families in the South Austin neighborhood help tend the farm through school-day lessons and after-school programs, on occasion bringing home food harvested from the crops. Families say the farm gives students a rare chance to step away from screens, spend time outdoors and connect with their own cultural traditions or those of their neighbors.
Gardening in general is good for children and adults. Traditional gardening methods give people a vital alternative to commercial ones dependent on agrochemicals.
Also, traditional methods are more climate-resilient. Look at this list of drought-resistant cultivars. See all the tribal names? That's because most tribal cultures practiced dryland farming without irrigation, only what the local rain provided. They grew crops adapted to that. So can you.
The Central Texas Cherokee Township and nonprofit Partners for Education, Agriculture and Sustainability, or PEAS, grow Native crops including corn and beans on a small farm at Cunningham to teach students and families about sustainable agriculture, culture and history.
PEAS has partnered with Austin ISD schools for 15 years. Two years ago, the organization began working with Central Texas Cherokees to plant Native seeds at Cunningham. Now, students and families in the South Austin neighborhood help tend the farm through school-day lessons and after-school programs, on occasion bringing home food harvested from the crops. Families say the farm gives students a rare chance to step away from screens, spend time outdoors and connect with their own cultural traditions or those of their neighbors.
Gardening in general is good for children and adults. Traditional gardening methods give people a vital alternative to commercial ones dependent on agrochemicals.
Also, traditional methods are more climate-resilient. Look at this list of drought-resistant cultivars. See all the tribal names? That's because most tribal cultures practiced dryland farming without irrigation, only what the local rain provided. They grew crops adapted to that. So can you.
