This August, we wrapped up our 17th BoysGrow summer. Each of the four teams — agriculture, construction, culinary, and mechanics — showed up, worked hard, and made the summer great. The first years came to the farm eager to learn and grow. We also had a strong group of second years that stepped into leadership roles and gave it their all this summer. Here’s a look through the summer.
Farm and Food
Our farm crew worked well this year, harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and more. They battled the hot sun and squash bugs, but we are grateful for their hard work. Because of the farm team, we will continue to harvest vegetables and feed the community well into the fall.
In the kitchen, the culinary team cooked and served 1,600 meals, often featuring fresh produce and sourdough bread made from scratch. Under the guidance of our new culinary instructor, every dish brought heart and soul to the table.
Constructing and Repairing
The construction team took on a huge fence and pergola project. The summer consisted of digging a lot of holes and required attention to detail as well as patience. Their efforts have set the foundation for our new community garden beds.
Meanwhile, the mechanics/landscaping team gained hands-on experience with everything from fixing motorbikes, to oil changes, to changing brake pads. They also kept our farm looking nice by keeping up with the landscaping.
Learning and Growing
In the classroom, the boys learned about beekeeping and best agriculture practices to apply to the work in the fields. They were introduced to soft-skills like respect, accountability, confidence and chivalry. We continued our ZONE programming through mindfulness and yoga.
The last week of the summer was full of fun activities. We kicked off the week with a field day. The boys had the opportunity to swim, kayak, practice archery, and use slingshot for target practice. On the final day of the program we had our annual BoysGrow olympics. Events included things like a ranger push, a chess, an obstacle course, and trivia.
We are eager to continue our mentorship program throughout the school year. The youth will be coming out to the farm at least once a month. The first time they will be out here will be to help prepare for Farm Fest on September 13th.
Check out the gallery below for more pictures from this summer.
