The bees have moved in to 500 Hoke Street! Thanks to Berry Hines of Bee Blessed Pure Honey for donating a hive to the IFFS Hoke Street Training Center, where our Urban Ag interns have built raised beds to grow everything from herbs to watermelons.
“Now we have bees on one corner and worms on the other corner,” commented Urban Ag Educator Maurice Small, referring to a section of the property where composting with worms, known as vermicomposting, is creating rich soil for use in the raised beds.
Small explained that adding the hive in the neighborhood will make the plants healthier by providing the pollination needed to make plants thrive. The bees thrive, too, being around healthy, organically grown produce. With tender loving care by the Urban Ag interns, the hive will expand and split off to spread their bee magic to other parts of the neighborhood.
Hines, a local beekeeper, runs a small family-owned operation (www.BeeBlessedPureHoney.com) that produces pure, unprocessed and unfiltered honey.
“I teach people about bees to reconnect them to nature. Kids in this neighborhood are in a food desert and I want to help them understand how food is grown.”
We agree, Berry! Our Urban Ag Program is designed to chip away at the root causes of hunger: lack of access to fresh, nutritious food and a lack income to purchase it. Inter-Faith food Shuttle hires community members as interns to learn how to grow food for themselves and their families. In fact, two of our interns who live nearby are now selling their home-grown produce every Saturday at a Food Shuttle Farm Stand. The stand is open Saturdays, 9a-1p, through October in the parking lot of Mount Peace Baptist Church at the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Raleigh Road in Southeast Raleigh.
Want to help keep good things growing at the Hoke Street Training Center? Small says his Urban Ag crew is looking for a donation of 2000 tulip bulbs to bring some spectacular color to the neighborhood. They also need 5 gallon containers with handles and lids to hold compost, and a garden dolly. Contact Ricky@FoodShuttle.org if you’d like to help!