(Nov. 2014)

"Central Rivers Farmshed and the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County Gateway Report Center have enjoyed a unique partnership over the past few years. When Farmshed took on its downtown renovation project at the former Sorenson’s Garden Center, the Gateway Report Center was looking for more community service partners. When the two organizations found each other, it was a perfect fit.

The teens started helping with construction and cleanup projects, specifically at the Farmshed facility throughout the school year. Then in 2013, Farmshed worked with Gateway staff to introduce the teens to several farmer partners on Tuesdays during the summer, when more program hours were available.

Farmshed’s farm partners included Culter Country Comfort, the Sand Box, Rose of Sharon Homestead, Nami Moon Farms, Whitefeather Organics, Lonely Oak Farm, Liberation Farmers and Painted Rock Farms. When the teens arrived, they assisted with large projects that gave them a glimpse into life on small, diversified farms. These projects included but were not limited to composting, planting trees and shrubs, feeding animals, pulling thistle and, of course, weeding vegetable plots.

To round out this season’s partnership, the teens went to Whitefeather Organics to choose a turkey for their Thanksgiving feast on Nov. 20. The turkey was donated by the Whitefeathers (Tony, Laura, Siris, Ashae and Indie) and community members Kent and Sue Hall.

During the teens’ visit to the farm, just two days before the dinner, they went into the pasture and together captured a suitably sized bird. After, they learned from Tony and Laura Whitefeather the process of raising birds on pasture-based systems, how to butcher a turkey, and about poultry's anatomy. The teens were amazed that turkeys eat grit and pebbles; storing them in their crops before passing the debris to their gizzards. The turkey’s gizzard helps to grind their food, since turkeys don’t have teeth."