Saturday, The Yuka Root Farm

Nice Man: "This is a pineapple bush."
Zari: "Can I eat the pineapple?"
Nice Man: "Uh...No."
Zari: "Then why are you showing me the freakin' pineapple bush?"

Yes, by the end of Saturday afternoon, we were all pretty tried of looking at plants, as Zari so expressed in her hypothetical conversation. From early in the morning we rode to a co-op that was completely covered in plants. We looked at some of the plants and then went to another project where there were more plants. So we had had our fill of plants.
However, it was actually a very fascinating thing we saw on Saturday. When we drove up after two hours of lovely sleep, all that was in sight was a beautiful array of foliage and greenery. Every shrub was neatly kept. Every tree was fresh and green. It looked like a fair wonderland to me. During our time there, we found that I wasn't the only one who thought it was amazing.
The co-op was established by a man in hopes of teaching the community how to help itself, which is essentially what its doing. The co-op project is a school called the Rural Family House. The school takes in 35 kids a year. One week the kids will learn skills and techniques in agriculture. Then, for two weeks, they will apply what they have learned in their own homes and communities. The School is a connection between kids, families, and communities.
They grew all sorts of things such as pineapple and bananas, but their main culture is what we call the "yuka root." It is used for edible purposes and industrial purposes.
Though the miniscule details of this place were a bit tedious, as Prof. Prochaska and I discussed, the concept is incredible. This is a school that not only teaches communities to be self-sustaining, but it is a place that prepares kids to be leaders in their communities, giving them a sense of pride in their accomplishment, as they trail-blaze this new initiative. That in itself is incredible.