Strands of Connection: In Community with The Three Sisters at Our Harvest Festival

Betsy Larkin

10 hours ago

2 min read

On a fine fall afternoon in October, more than 150 visitors were welcomed into the Growing Center to celebrate the Harvest season through the lens of The Three Sisters and a special fiber arts "Strands of Connection" exhibit at our Harvest Festival. The event was made possible with the assistance of dozens of our volunteers - and our volunteer guests from People Making a Difference.

Visitors explored the gardens to see corn, squash and beans growing and to learn more about The Three Sisters and some of the related traditions and science. Above, a Growing Center volunteer created Three Sisters educational displays in three languages (English, Spanish & Portuguese) that were on display.

Free family-friendly harvest activities included pumpkin decorating, corn husk doll making, a seed guessing game, and an interactive art project exploring cyanotypes that, when completed, showed the life cycle of a Three Sisters Garden.

A special photography method, cyanotype uses sun sensitive chemicals painted on a surface. Left exposed to the sun, materials create a white image around bright blue colors when rinsed.

One of the more colorful displays was a showcase of the products from this year's Strands of Connection: From Soil to Scarf project, which engaged a small cohort of engaged community members from April to October in learning about natural fiber arts. A workshop series intended for novices and seasoned fiber artists alike, this months-long project taught all the skills necessary to go from plants and raw wool to colorful, finished fabrics.

Participants learned about growing and caring for dye plants; spinning yarn using a drop spindle; dyeing yarn with plant-based dyes grown in the first session; and knitting or weaving a simple scarf, or other textile. Because this series was supported by a grant from the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, there was no fee to participate, and all materials were provided.

The Soil to Scarf project was led by fiber artist Miles Hilton (they/them), a hand-spinning aficionado who has taught all over West New York, and at the Somerville Community Growing Center.

We got to meet our event sponsors, Green Century Funds and learn about their important work, and folks engaged with learning about food access in the City! And at our Three Sisters themed Bake Sale, featuring items such as pumpkin maple muffins, corn cookies and savory corn tart, we raised vital funds that will help support future events, thanks to over a dozen volunteer bakers. In addition, 39 people completed the Impact Survey, part of our seasonal effort to better understand who is using the Center.