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Prayer, Work, Table, Neighbor, Rest | |
Spring Forest Newsletter
June 2025
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Cooking in Community
We believe that food has the power to nourish not just bodies, but relationships and community as well. This spring, Chef Netta has been leading a series of cooking classes designed to bring people together around good food, new skills, and shared stories. Here’s a look at the different ways we’ve been gathering in the kitchen:
Cooking with Refugee Families at World Relief
Each week, we’ve joined families from around the world for a cooking class in Durham, where we prepare meals, learn new recipes, and share food traditions. The classes also include a pop-up farmers market, featuring produce from Spring Forest for families to take home.
North Street Neighborhood Cooking Classes
In partnership with the North Street Neighborhood, a suportive community centered around adults with disabilities, Chef Netta leads a hands-on class at the neighborhood pavilion. Residents cook and eat together, exploring fresh ingredients and simple recipes — followed by their own mini farmers market to take home fresh vegetables from Spring Forest.
After-School Cooking at Spring Forest
This month, we wrapped up a 5-week pilot of an after-school cooking program in the Spring Forest outdoor kitchen. Elementary students took part in everything from washing and chopping to cooking, tasting, and sharing a meal together. The kids (and parents!) loved it — and we’re hoping to offer more after-school classes in the future.
Let us know if you would be interested in future cooking classes on the farm!
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Field Trips to Spring Forest
Throughout the spring we have loved having school groups of all different ages, from preschoolers to middle schoolers, come for an immersive experience on the farm. Students divide into small groups to move through different stations -- cooking in the outdoor kitchen, tending to the garden and/or animals, yoga and walking the nature trail -- and then we all share a meal together, which the kids have helped to prepare. With older students, we have included education and discussion around our work supporting refugee families and serving the broader community.
If you are connected to a group of young people and would like to plan a visit to Spring Forest, please reach out to office@springforest.org
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Flourishing Gardens
Summer crops are thriving with all the rain and warmer temperatures. We expect to harvest green beans and corn in the next 2-3 weeks, and it won't be long until our CSA shares and free farmer's market have beautiful, juicy tomatoes. We are so grateful for all the volunteers and interns who make our farm so beautiful and productive.
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Border Pilgrimage with H4H
By Valerie Irene Caballero
On my recent trips to the U.S. Mexican border, I came in uncertain and left transformed - with eyes wide open and heart heavy with stories of migration, resilience, and hope.
Through exhibits, shelter visits and conversations with migrants from Central and South America, I witnessed both the pain of displacement and the strength of the human spirit. I reflected on my own journey as a first generation Cuban American, and the responsibility I have as a mother to raise daughters who are aware, compassionate and grounded in justice.
Crossing in Juarez, Mexico with Abara, a non profit embodying peace and transformation- deepened that conviction. I saw firsthand what it means to rehumanize the border, to offer more than shelter, but dignity, advocacy, and friendship. Their resilience humbled me. The humanity we shared transcended borders.
On the final day, as I handed out clothes to families newly arrived in the U.S., the tears of gratitude, the sight of blistered feet, and the quiet gift of an apple slice from a child cut deep. Standing before the towering border fence, beneath the coils of razor wire, I was overcome by the sobering truth of injustice. And yet, I also saw something else: the unbreakable strength of the human spirit.
Because in the end, love of neighbor is not just a commandment - It's a calling!
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Welcome Shaima Muradi
Many of you know Shaima already, through her work with Grow It! and our ESL program over the past several years. We are thrilled that Shaima has now officially joined our staff as our Associate Chef.
| Shaima Muradi has lived in the US for the last 43 years. Originally from Afghanistan, she has lived in New York, Florida, and now North Carolina. She is a chef and former restaurant owner and enjoys helping and teaching at Spring Forest. Since 2017, Shaima has been an active interpreter and volunteer with the local refugee community. She is the mother of four children and five grandchildren. | |
Summer Camp: Help us spread the word!
We still have spots available for both weeks of summer camp. We'll be cooking with Chef Netta, playing in the forest, working in the garden, spending time with the goats and the chickens, creating art and doing yoga!
| Thank you for getting us halfway to our scholarship goal!! We are still seeking sponsors to get us 100% to our goal: covering the cost of camp for 20 children who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend summer camp. Please reach out with any questions, or visit our Donate page and select Summer Camp Scholarships on the dropdown menu. $250 covers one full scholarship, but any amount is appreciated! |
Wisdom of Creation
By Larry Petrovick
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Take a Noticing Journey
Each day at Spring Forest, one of us will take a walk around the farm; a noticing journey, to sense, see and listen. As the day greets us with similarities from yesterday and nuances today, what are the crops and the land saying?
Recently we noticed, the sweet corn is beginning to tassel. The tassel is that spiky-looking structure on top of the corn plant and is the male flower structure of the plant.
The precursor of an ear of corn is the female flower of the corn plant. Around the time the corn tassels mature, a huge number of corn silk strands have emerged from the female flower. Each strand of silk is connected to a female reproductive cell called an ovule and is the predecessor of a kernel of corn.
Corn is pollinated not by typical pollinators like bees and other insects, but it is (usually) wind pollinated. As the pollen is released, the wind carries it to the silk of a neighboring corn plant.
The pollen grain creates a small tube accessing the hollow corn silk, where genetic material is transferred and carried down to the ovule and fertilization occurs. In order for a full ear of corn to develop, one pollen grain needs to attach to each corn silk strand and fertilize each of hundreds of ovules to create a full ear of corn.
The work of God's Hands! How amazing!
Some questions to consider:
What do you notice as you walk through your day?
What is the landscape of your life saying?
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Other Helpful Links
Our Spring/Summer CSA is now full, but you can sign up for the Fall Season:
| For details about Grow It, our Wednesday morning farm program for children and caregiever: |
Financial Support
We appreciate donations of any amount to support programs like Grow It, Hope 4 Humanity, Free Farmers Markets, Summer Camp Scholarships, and infrastructure for our community gathering spaces.
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Welcome New Interns
We're excited to have three new interns from Duke Divinity joining us for the summer: Welcome to Brooke Reardon, Mia Lee, and Darren Myers.
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"Hi, I’m Brooke (she/her), a doctoral student at Duke Divinity studying political theology and environmental ethics. I’m a cat mom, a big coffee drinker, a sci/fi & fantasy nerd, and in my free time I enjoy spending time outside. It has been so wonderful getting to know you all over the last couple of weeks. I am really grateful for the opportunity to spend the rest of this summer with you all at Spring Forest."
"Ya'át'ééh (hello)! My name is Mia Lee (she/her) and I am a dual M.Div./M.S.W. degree student at Duke Divinity and UNC Chapel Hill. I am from Gallup, New Mexico and am an enrolled citizen of the Navajo (Diné) Nation. I also come from the Cochiti Pueblo people. I have lived in Durham for approximately 4.5 years with my husband, Joon, our dog, Riker, and cat, Jasper. I find joy in birding, sharing a cup of coffee with others, reading, and going to a Durham Bulls game. I look forward to connecting more with you all at Spring Forest this summer!"
From Darren: "My time at Spring Forest has been very enjoyable and meaningful. It reminds me a lot of the rural life back in my hometown of Mount Olive, NC. Being at Spring Forest has helped to remind me about the importance of nature, and to be able to be more spiritually in tune with creation."
| The Foley family will be moving to a new house in Durham this month. We're so thankful for all of their many contributions to the Spring Forest community. . . Organizing mothing events and other naturalist activities, creating nature guides and photo calendars, helping Grow It! to take shape and flourish, leading summer camps, supporting the ESL class in many different ways, creating and maintaining the Children's Garden, caring for the chickens, relocating snakes, hosting countless gatherings and so much more. We send them with all of our well wishes for this next chapter. | | | | |
- Community Potlucks (Forest Feast)
1st and 3rd Saturday of every month at 5pm
- Grow It, Wednesday at 10am
Children and families are invited to come explore the farm and forest, enjoy time for yoga and cooking, and connect with other families
- Yoga in the Barn, Thursday at 9am
Join us for a welcoming yoga class designed for all levels
2nd Friday of every month at 6:30pm
See Events Page for more details
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