On February 22, NMOST visited the Youth Agricultural Cooperative’s Seed Planting Day. While most of this program’s work happens during the summer, co-directors Kate Porterfield and Andrew Trujillo started hosting seed planting days earlier in the year so that participants can see the entire process, not just summer harvesting.
At the beginning, youth go around in a circle with introductions before adult facilitators explain the seed planting process. Then, the planting process begins. Youth pick the seeds they want to plant, pour dirt into planters, poke holes in the dirt then plant seeds. The final step in this process is watering them with the shower function of a hose. These seeds will grow into plants that will be harvested by youth interns this summer.
Young people got to make decisions all along the way, from choosing responsibilities in the garden to deciding which seeds to plant. Participants have even had a chance to sell plants and produce at multiple farmers’ markets around Albuquerque. There are leadership and mentorship opportunities; some participants are designated as leaders and they support younger and newer members. On the day of the NMOST site visit, leaders were preparing to facilitate a community meeting with families the following week.
The program originally started at Wilson Middle School but has now evolved into its own organization, the Youth Agricultural Cooperative (YAC). This youth-led internship program helps 6th-12th graders learn about agriculture and gardening, grow and develop as leaders, and make new friends.
Additionally, YAC is an NMOST Service-Learning Mini-Grant recipient. Funds from the mini-grant will help YAC address transportation barriers and cover supply costs for their Summer 2025 youth-led service-learning project.
Two youth members of the cooperative and the co-directors will join NMOST staff at the National Service-Learning Conference in Minnesota later this month. In St Paul, they will present a Lightning Talk on Shared Decision-Making. See the next newsletter for updates on the conference and presentation.