- [Announcer] Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation, the Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation and viewers like you.

Thank you.

- On today's episode of "Chattanooga: Stronger Together," we'll learn about two community nonprofits.

One provides a community garden experience.

The other offers to help you expand your creativity through pottery making classes.

We're gonna have fun today, guys.

We're stronger together Chattanooga.

So stay tuned to learn more.

(upbeat music) Welcome to "Chattanooga Stronger Together."

I'm Barbara Marter.

We're excited to have with us today, Melanie Lusk, Executive Director of Crabtree Farms, a nonprofit established in 1998 with a mission to promote sustainable agriculture.

The farm started as a plantation in the early 1800s and was donated to the city by the Crabtree and McGauley families, with the stipulation that it must retain its agricultural legacy.

We're excited to learn more about Crabtree Farms, Melanie, thank you so much for joining us together.

Could you just show to share with our viewers, very quickly, all of the rich history of Crabtree Farms, from when it was started in the 1800s to what it is actually doing now?

- Mm-hm, sure.

Thanks for having me Barbara.

Yeah, so Crabtree Farms does have a long and rich history in agriculture.

We know that the indigenous people, the Cherokees, used it, and then it was actually part of a working plantation post colonization.

And then as the land continued to get parceled down that last 22 acres, like you alluded to, was gifted to the city with the caveat to remain agricultural.

At that time, a group of folks came together interested in farming the land and thus the nonprofit Crabtree Farms was established.

So literally over the last 23 years, we have served as an urban sustainable farm with education woven into every component of everything we do throughout the years.

And today we continue that legacy by retaining a production farm status, where we provide, beyond education, provide things like kale and carrots and tomatoes to the community.

- Could you kinda talk about the community gardens?

I know that earlier this year I was able to go over and you have this U-Pick, where I was able to pick some blueberries and some blackberries and I saw a mothers with their small children out there, picking flowers and sunflowers and just the laughter and the enthusiasm of the young kids like, "Mommy, look, blueberries!"

and everything.

So can you kinda share with us about how you have those community gardens and how the whole thing's kind of laid out?

- Yeah.

Sure.

As a community farm there's lots of aspects, right?

And so we have been enhancing our U-Pick opportunities.

So people can come out and pick their berries and sort of engage with food production.

And we even add some fun things in, like we we're teaching people how to harvest their own corn.

And U-Pick that over this past summer.

But through an anonymous gift that came to the farm, we were charged with building out our community garden bed program, reinstating it, if you will.

So we were able to build out 20 community garden beds and we gifted them, one half of them, to immediate neighbors, which would be residents throughout Clifton Hills and East Lake who are still experiencing food security challenges.

And so this cross-cultural program has been so successful.

We've had families come out every week where they've planted and nurtured and harvested in their community, garden beds.

And truly, education and partnership, I think have been the key successes in that.

By having staff available, to provide that support and education when the families come out to work their garden.

We have an amazing partnership with LifeSpring Community Health who has really helped us break through the cultural and the language barriers that we've experienced as a farm.

And then we've implemented something as simple as a monthly potluck and that potluck brings together all of the families that participate in the community garden bed.

They have a little educational component, kids activities and then really they just break bread together and have built their own community at the farm, which is just amazing to see.

- I know that when I was out there, I would see families out there working in their plots, which I thought was very interesting.

It was over to the right-hand side and so they had their plots and everything, but it was, I think, what I loved about it is the fact that you also provide food for like almost 10 restaurants in town and some farmer's markets and things.

Could you kind of talk about that a little bit?

- Yeah, so as a production farm, like I said, we do still produce a lot of produce and there's a bunch of ways that people can access that food.

So we're at the Main Street Farmer's Market every Wednesday, year round.

We have a seasonal on-site farm stand on Fridays and Saturdays.

We provide wholesale to, like you said, about 10 to 12 of the top restaurants in Chattanooga.

And then we also provide wholesale to Pruett's Market up on Signal Mountain.

- You were kind of alluded a little bit earlier, you mentioned a couple of times about the education component of it.

Could you kind of give our viewers a little bit more information about that?

- Yeah, so we provide education on a wide variety of levels.

So we do youth education that might be in the form of field trips, where schools come out to the farm and children can engage, hands-in-the-dirt, learning about food production and where their food comes from, as well as some partnerships for camps and things like that.

We also do adult education in the form of workshops, where people might come and learn how to make soap or how to plant an edible landscape in their yard.

The offerings in the workshops are pretty varied.

We also have sort of an informal education program and that's through our really robust volunteer and workshare programs.

Where adults come out and they work side-by-side with our farm staff in the urban farm or in greenhouse operations.

And they kind of just learn all of those behind the scenes techniques and earn some produce all along the way.

- I know that you're not organic gardening, but you let the land sort of do its own thing.

'Cause I noticed there were some areas that were sort of overgrown, that you'll let nature kind of take its course.

Is that correct?

- Yeah, so we really strive for regenerative farming practices.

And so when you see some of the overgrown grasses and whatnot, there's multiple reasons for that, but it helps to put nutrients back into the land.

It helps to sequester carbon, which is a hot topic right now, right?

- [Barbara] I know.

- And so through drip tape and cover cropping and rotation of crops, we try and implement all of the most sustainable methodologies that we can, on the urban farm.

- Cool.

And then also you do, periodically through the year, don't you do plant sales and things like that?

- We do, we do a variety of events through the year and people have come to known and love our annual plant sales.

So in the spring and the fall, we offer over 400 varieties of plants for the home gardener.

And these can include anything from your typical vegetables to medicinal herbs, to pollinators, to edible landscape offerings like blueberry bushes.

So yeah, wide variety.

Hoping that we can bring the festival part into the spring plant sale and festivals back.

- Oh, that would be great.

I know that one of the things I'm trying to do in my own backyard is do some apples and some pears and things like that.

And some of your blueberry bushes too, which I'm gonna kind of take pictures and send to you and go, "Look, it's growing.

"I haven't killed it yet."

You know, that type of thing.

There's also, you had mention teas, do you do any kind of making teas for people or have tea classes or anything?

- So that's interesting, 'cause that is something that we were just talking about yesterday actually, was to let's put together a workshop where people can learn to sort of, the flair, I guess, in layering different herbs to make your own herbal teas.

So we do grow a variety of herbs and we were talking about let's maybe we should start looking at a U-Pick herb garden, so people can come and learn to harvest herbs, dry them, and then make them into their own teas.

- Well not only make them their own teas, but how can you use those fresh herbs in cooking?

'Cause you don't offer any kind of cooking or canning or anything like that, do you?

- We do actually have a variety of canning workshops throughout the year.

So they're seasonal based on, you know, what's being harvested at that time.

So we do offer canning.

We do at times offer different culinary classes as well.

But I think herbs, culinary herbs would be a good one to do.

- I think that's what everybody's sort of interested in too, now.

And also a good thing would be, a lot of people are trying to get into the green juicing.

So having all of those fresh vegetables and things that you offer, you know, seasonally of course, could kind of like help into some of those herbal teas and also the juicing.

I noticed that when I did a tour kind of earlier in the year out there, there's a building, that's sort of separate that you could use for small weddings or gatherings or something.

Can you kinda talk about that a little bit?

- Yeah, that is our Evelyn Center at Crabtree Farms.

And that is a rental facility, that we have available for folks.

We do do about a half a dozen weddings, smaller weddings, there every year, but also it's a really popular place for everything from birthday parties to corporate retreats, personal workshops, it's available for rent for a wide variety of groups.

- Oh, that's amazing.

I want to kinda circle the wagon back around the educational point, because I think that is so important to our viewers, on how you are able to not only educate the adults and you know, the younger ones that are, well you have older folks like me who was raised on a farm eventually, you know, years ago.

And so, and I do some square foot gardening in my backyard too.

And I love the fact that you're pulling the community together and you're letting people come out and do the, U-Pick and have the gardens and everything.

And teaching them about the healthy eating habits and having fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and things like that.

But I'm also interested in the fact that you are able to educate in the school system too.

Could you kind of maybe talk about how you do that and what schools that you're in right now?

- We actually bring the school children to the farm.

- [Barbara] Oh, okay.

- We find that a lot more powerful, so they can get their hands literally in the dirt and learn.

And so we partner with a lot of the schools throughout Hamilton County, the public schools, some charter schools, private schools and as well as homeschool groups come out and they go through.

We have a standard five station program for field trip kids to participate in.

So they look at pollinators and they learn about compost and they get their hands right on to vegetables.

So it's pretty powerful to watch little faces brighten up, just realizing where, "So this is where food comes from?"

It's surprising how many actually don't know.

So that's a big joy through the field trip program, but we're also open to exploring opportunities with other folks too.

Like I said, with the homeschool groups, we're starting to get a larger interest with homeschool groups approaching us like, "Hey, how could the farm be an asset to us?"

Whether it's formalized programming or informal programming, the gates are open for all the groups.

- Well, I know that earlier you had mentioned about Master Gardeners.

That if there's any Master Gardeners out there that need continuing credits or something like that, or hours, they can come and do that at the Crabtree Farms.

Is that correct?

- Yeah, we have a really strong partnership with the Master Gardeners program of Hamilton County.

And so we find lots of folks that are going through their program have to earn so many hours of hands-on activity before they get their full credentials.

And so many, many of those people come out to the farm and work alongside our greenhouse staff and our urban farm staff to volunteer and get those hours.

- Okay, great.

Melanie, thank you so much for sharing these things with us today at Crabtree Farms and for your guidance and sharing this with our audience.

I'm so glad that our community now gets to see all the wonderful things that Crabtree Farms is involved in.

So coming up next, Tony Miles will speak with Joy Key who's Executive Director of Scenic City Clay Arts.

So stay with us.

(upbeat music) We want to know how you serve your community.

Send us photos or videos of you or your family volunteering and we might feature it on a future episode.

Email stronger@wtcitv.org, or use the hashtag StrongerWTCI on social media.

(upbeat music) - Welcome back.

I'm Toni Miles, co-host of "Chattanooga: Stronger Together."

And today we're going to learn how pottery making can expand your creativity at any age.

Here today, to tell us more, is Joy Key, Executive Director of Scenic City Clay Arts.

Thank you, Joy, for being here.

Now, let's get into this, okay?

Let's throw down.

Tell me all about Scenic City Clay Arts.

- Absolutely, so Scenic City Clay Arts is a 501c3 nonprofit.

It's one of your arts organizations in Chattanooga.

And when you walk into our active ceramic studio, it looks like a working art studio for all things clay.

We start with the raw wet clay in your hands and whether you throw it or hand build through to the final process of finished pieces, that you might see a mug or a bowl or a sculpture, and that entire process can happen in the studio.

We have students that are taking classes.

We have members who are enhancing their skills and developing their skills in the space.

And then we do a lot of outreach programs in the community as well, just to engage even more people with the clay making process.

- Wow, now everything you said, that's a lot.

So I wanted to break down each piece and talk about it, okay?

So tell me about the classes.

- Yeah, so classes are a great way for anybody to come in and experience clay.

A lot of our students have never touched clay before.

It might be the first time they're experiencing it, or maybe they took one class in high school, but maybe that was 30 years ago and now they're, you know, coming back to it, because they enjoyed it back then.

And so it's really accessible to anybody.

We have classes for ages four through 80, 90, however, yeah.

And we have wheel, we have hand building, we have different techniques and anybody can really come in.

And it's a really awesome experience to really literally get your hands dirty with another group of people that you might not otherwise have met.

And it's a great way to meet new people, to find a new community, a creative community to share time with.

- I really love that 'cause that really ties in today.

You know what we're doing, "Chattanooga: Stronger Together," but tell me the difference between, I think you mentioned the different clays, like the wheel and the, so explain that so that our audience will know we're talking about.

- Yeah, of course.

So when somebody says I'm throwing pottery, that actually means they're working on a wheel and it's throwing, because they throw the clay down onto the wheel and then use your hands to build a vessel.

You know, we have beginner students, might just be making something small and then we have more advanced students and members that are making large bowls and large pieces and things like that.

And then hand building is just what it sounds like.

There are several different types of hand building techniques that you can use to create pieces, all different shapes and sizes and sculptural forms and all that kinda stuff.

And we have an amazing set of professional pottery instructors, who are all incredible artists in their own right.

And work with us to teach our classes.

And it's a really awesome experience to learn from these professionals.

- So these professionals, are they giving of their time?

Or are they paid?

Are they... - Yeah, they're working artists.

Yes, we absolutely believe in the role of the working artist in our community and in the world.

And so we definitely provide that opportunity for those artists.

- You know, I've always felt that creativity is the heart of who we are.

And so this is really exciting that people, even people like myself, who might think that they're not talented, can come in and really get their hands into some clay and create something that is beautiful.

Tell me a little bit more about your community outreach classes and also about families that could come in together and do this.

- Yeah, so we have a series of classes every month.

We have youth workshops and we also have family workshops.

And those are a really great way to get your kids involved and even have a family activity that you can do together.

And something we've heard from a lot of people too, is that we're an indoor activity.

Chattanooga is wonderfully known for all of its outdoor activities.

- (Toni laughing) Yes.

- So, sometimes it's nice to have something inside.

So we definitely have a lot of those.

And we have received funding from Tennessee Arts Commission, who is a wonderful supporter of the arts in Tennessee, to help with those programs and also Arts Build Chattanooga, here locally.

And outreach, we are able to take clay out into different communities that might not be able to make it to us or we're able to work out programs to get other groups, you know, into the studio, which is always exciting as well.

But this summer, we were able to do a program at the South Chattanooga Rec Center.

So that was a really exciting opportunity.

Right as they reopened, (Toni laughing) we were able to get in there for a month, right before they closed again.

And that's a great opportunity to really share clay with a community that might not otherwise have even heard of us.

- Are the classes affordable?

- So part of our mission is to make clay accessible to all people that want to try it.

So the classes are definitely priced below market value for what you are getting and receiving as a whole.

And then we also provide full and partial scholarships to anyone who requests that, yeah.

- Yeah, I was gonna ask you - [Joy] Oh absolutely, yeah.

- to talk about the scholarships, 'cause I remember reading that and so people need to go out on the website.

- Yes, we've already, we've provided over 20 scholarships already this year, both for classes and membership and yeah, you can see all of our classes on our website of course and there's also an online form for scholarship request or you can give us a call.

we love making it available to anybody who wants to try.

- So question for you, Joy, what attracted you to this particular organization?

- Yeah, so I grew up in the area and I come from an arts background family.

My dad is a theater teacher and so I just, I grew up in the arts and I always loved it.

And I myself did not go into an artistic practice field, but I have an arts administration background and museum education background.

So when I saw this position in an active ceramic studio, but my role being more on the non-profit, you know, management of the organization side and the growing of the organization, that was really exciting to me.

And it's been a really fun place to work and watch grow over the last couple of years.

- I want to go back a little bit.

For young children, can you describe what the classes are like and all of that, 'cause I'm sure I got parents out here listening, wanting to sign their small children up.

So what would that look like?

- Yeah, so our youth classes are typically ages four and up, and they are hand building.

And they typically have a defined project.

So they might come in and make a specific type of animal.

I know one of the classes she did was like winter birds, and they were these beautiful little bird shapes, that were hollow on the inside.

And they just had cute little noses or beaks.

Sorry, beaks.

Not noses.

Cute, little beaks.

She's done emoji face mugs.

- [Toni] Emojis?

- For a little bit older kids yes.

So they made face mugs and then they did some surface design to add their favorite emoji to it.

Some of our family classes, which our parents, we have a lot of grandparents that come as well and bring their grandkids.

They may make a bird house together, or they may make a set of pet bowls, if they have pets at the house, yeah.

So there's usually a theme.

And those are all, those themes are on the website.

You can sign up for the one that looks most interesting to you and your kiddo.

- Well, I love this and I love the fact this is for all ages and all of this.

So tell us about membership.

- Yeah, so membership is for those people who want a space to continue developing on their own.

So membership is, come during open studio hours and work independently.

Members are provided with access to the space and all the tools.

And then we do all of the firing, which is the finishing of the pieces.

What makes it hard.

And yeah, it's a really awesome space to watch these members really learn together, because everybody shares.

You know potters are so giving of their experience and giving of their styles.

And it's been really fun to watch some people come in and discover clay for the first time in a class and then join as a member and then develop their skill and start creating amazing pieces, that then they turn into their own business.

- Oh wow!

- And we've seen a few people.

We've even had a couple people quit their day jobs to become working artists.

(Toni laughing) Which is really exciting to see.

And really an awesome benefit to our community.

- Yes.

That is powerful.

How can people get involved?

- Yeah, there are so many ways to get involved.

Primarily get yourself in the studio and check out what we've got going on.

You can look at our classes that are online and sign up for any of those.

We do have a small retail space called The Mug Shop.

Where we sell, not just mugs, but other ceramic items.

You can come in and check those out.

- Joy, thank you so much for coming in today and sharing with us.

We really enjoyed it.

And thank you for joining us.

We hope that "Chattanooga: Stronger Together," serves as a trusted source of information for viewers like you, who are looking to make a difference in our community.

So let us know what you think.

Email us at stronger@wtcitv.org or use the hashtag StrongerWTCI on your social media.

I'm Tony Miles for Barbara Marter and all of us here at WTCI.

We'll see you next time.

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