Email Note from Lizzy Freed Global Scholar ~ February 2019
Greetings Jayne, Al, and Kathy,
I hope you are enjoying snowy Michigan
Spring has officially come to the Netherlands, according to the farmers. I keep expecting it to be a Michigan spring, though, in which we get a snow after the flowers are all up… In any case, we are proceeding as though it has. Today we officially broke ground at the refugee center, which means things are about to get very busy! I wanted to drop a quick line and share photos of the exciting first plow. Next, we are going to sample the soil to determine which amendments we need, and then disc it in. I’m working with a couple of great farmers who are helping out, and the refugee center has found a woman who works at the local vineyard (and I believe is a refugee herself?) who will potentially act as a work counterpart to carry on with the garden once I leave in a couple of years. I haven’t met her yet, but have heard great things throughout the community.
In other news, my parents just left from a two-week visit. Once again, the Wageningen Rotary Club showed incredible hospitality - we attended a Rotary meeting and then a few families gracious invited us to share a meal. There was talk of eventually visiting Traverse City, too - I guess all of our photos of the Bay were a convincing reason to visit ;)
Hope all is well, and I look forward to sharing more photos in the upcoming months.
Best,
Lizzy Freed
I hope you are enjoying snowy Michigan
Spring has officially come to the Netherlands, according to the farmers. I keep expecting it to be a Michigan spring, though, in which we get a snow after the flowers are all up… In any case, we are proceeding as though it has. Today we officially broke ground at the refugee center, which means things are about to get very busy! I wanted to drop a quick line and share photos of the exciting first plow. Next, we are going to sample the soil to determine which amendments we need, and then disc it in. I’m working with a couple of great farmers who are helping out, and the refugee center has found a woman who works at the local vineyard (and I believe is a refugee herself?) who will potentially act as a work counterpart to carry on with the garden once I leave in a couple of years. I haven’t met her yet, but have heard great things throughout the community.
In other news, my parents just left from a two-week visit. Once again, the Wageningen Rotary Club showed incredible hospitality - we attended a Rotary meeting and then a few families gracious invited us to share a meal. There was talk of eventually visiting Traverse City, too - I guess all of our photos of the Bay were a convincing reason to visit ;)
Hope all is well, and I look forward to sharing more photos in the upcoming months.
Best,
Lizzy Freed
lizfreed@umich.edu
Dear Jayne, Al, and Kathy, ~ December 2018
I hope you are all well and enjoying the holiday season!
I wanted to quickly check in before the end of 2018, and to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
All is going well here in Wageningen. I am in the midst of exam week (and taking a brief and very needed break to write this e-mail), before getting a 2-week vacation from classes! Although it was challenging to get back into the life of a student, I'm enjoying the courses and content.
My gardening project is clicking along nicely, as well. Last time I spoke with you, Jayne, we were discussing funding options. Since then, I have found three avenues for funding here, which we will be pursuing before the New Year; aside from additional funding we may get through these other initiatives, Rotary Wageningen has agreed to support the project. I also have found one local farmer who has agreed to help in the garden design, and another who will help with labor. I met with a group of particularly interested refugees last week, and they gave great feedback about the project's goals and purpose. They also provided me with insight as to which products would be best to grow in the garden (for example, different herbs that would be a nice taste of home). As of now, we are planning to break ground in February or March to prep for the upcoming growing season.
We have had a lot of conversations about sustainability within Rotary and the refugee center itself, and have come up with a few different scenarios to ensure this project's success; the center is extremely motivated to keep the project going after I'm gone, and the Rotary Club and a particularly active volunteer group (Welkom in Wageningen) want to collaborate as well.
So far, so good! Everyone has been very helpful and enthusiastic about the project, which has been a huge blessing. The refugee center staff, as well, have been amazing to work with - I came at a good time, because they had been hoping a project like this could be implemented for the past few years. I'm so excited to see where it will go in the upcoming months. the growing season seems far away, but spring will be here before we know it. Once we till the land, I will be sure to send pictures.
Again, I hope you all enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Best wishes,
Lizzy