What do you do with cotton?

[cortney...@gmail.com]

Does anyone else grow and harvest cotton in their school garden? We've grown it in the past and it's amazing to watch the flowers turn into cotton bolls. We are in VA and the 4th graders learn about VA history and the cotton gin. Seems like an easy connection to the garden. I am planning on having them pick the cotton and get the seeds out, but then what to do with the cotton? I was wondering if anyone else has grown cotton in their school garden and what do you do with it?

Thanks!

Cortney

[tristana]

Hi Cortney,

I love the opportunity to learn about where cotton and our clothes come from in a hands-on way! 

This may already be on your radar, but I wanted to highlight the culturally sensitive nature of growing cotton, especially for any Black students. Due to the history and trauma of growing cotton for the Black community, growing cotton in the school garden could be alarming for both students and parents if not done in a sensitive way that provides context and leaves room for affirming identities and experiences. A

For resources on how to approach this, I'd suggest checking out the SGSO Network's Equity and Inclusion Promising Practices page, especially the section on "Creating Learning Environments that Liberate Youth, and Professional Development". Specifically, the Culturally Responsive Teaching tool by FoodCorps is a great place to start. 

I'm curious how others approach growing cotton in their gardens? 

Best, 

Tristana

Tristana Pirkl
Director
School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network
(She/Her)
www.sgsonetwork.org

[Shital Parikh]

Sharing this for California gardeners: 

Cotton seeds are not sold or shipped to/in many USA states including California. 

Cotton is easy to grow, but in CA, as in other states, home plants are regulated because if allowed to grow continually (and often organically), they may become vectors for disease or pests that can threaten agricultural crops.

Hobby cotton” seed must come from a state-certified source, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and it can be grown legally only from March to October.

I can’t have cotton seeds shipped to my home in California. 

https://www.latimes.com/home/la-xpm-2013-jun-25-la-lh-cotton-plants-growing-california-20130624-story.html?_amp=true

Shital Parikh

Master Gardener, School Garden Consultant San Diego 

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Shital Parikh

Master Gardener, School Garden Consultant

"To plant a garden, is to believe in tomorrow" Audrey Hepburn

[Amy Sidran]

Hi, I agree that growing cotton is very weighted with cultural significance and should be recognized for its influence in colonization and oppression of people.

I’m going to be teaching a class in how specific agricultural crops, such as cotton, shaped this country, connecting slavery and oppression, agricultural practices in the South during slavery and the cultural significance/influence of these crops to African Americans. 

We will grow cotton at our farm. I think having the plant is incredibly valuable so students can see how difficult it is to grow and harvest. If done correctly, recognizing and discussing the trauma within the class snd community, this can ge an incredibly powerful way to affirm identities and experiences as Tristan mentioned.

I’m buying my heirloom cotton from Southern exposure seed company, a fantastic small seed company in Virginia. Their heirloom seeds come from generations passed down with cultural information that’s extensive.

https://www.southernexposure.com/

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 23, 2022, at 5:51 PM, Shital Parikh <shi...@1parikhs.com> wrote:



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[Ben]

About growing cotton (in California) watch this youtube video on the aral sea (its similar to the Salton Sea here in SoCal only it use to be, much, much, much larger)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ksqhdvA9DM

Back in 1999 actually spent some time traveling in that part of the world and saw first hand students (over there) were not in school because they were out "helping" to pick cotton

Something I've kept in the back of my mind since then is industrial hemp (for clothing) uses a lot less resources than cotton AND which use to be a widely grown crop used to make sails, rope, clothing, etc. 

http://nifa.usda.gov/industrial-hemp

...but because of the war on drugs and petrochemicals (which can be used to make synthetic fibers), industrial hemp has gone out of favor 

FYI according to the "farm bureau" seems there is acknowledgement that "industrial hemp" is a legitimate farm crop

http://www.fb.org/market-intel/usda-releases-long-awaited-industrial-hemp-regulations

Something sorta related to the Aral sea which I keep in mind is drought, segments of the ag sector here in California I've realized for decades are unsustainable, I point this fact out because of something that was reported on NPR

http://www.npr.org/2022/02/14/1080302434/study-finds-western-megadrought-is-the-worst-in-1-200-years

PS Shital (since I noticed you are also in SD) FWIW the patagonia store in cardiff has "hemp" clothing,... actually over the weekend purchased some work pants

A study in San Diego asked if people could identify the scientific reason why climate change is happening

The findings sadly no one could correctly answer the question

www.ThereIsNoPlanet-b.org

Make science in America great again

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[Em Shipman]

I wanted to share this article, "Ending Curriculum Violence" to underscore Tristana's warning about the sensitivity around growing cotton with kids...

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2020/ending-curriculum-violence

Em Shipman 

Executive Director

she/her (why pronouns?)

802-222-7884

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[Emma Latham]

I would suggest watching this video for a pretty honest account of what a cotton-picking classroom experience can be like for a student. 

It goes back to the point from Learning For Justice article by Stephanie Jones, that activities like these are part of larger American educational practice of reenacting slavery and the potential curricular violence. 

Warning-- video has a lot of explicit language! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PToqVW4n86U 

All the best,

Emma Latham (she/her)

School Grounds Manager 

171 Grove Street

Clifton, New Jersey 07013

973-869-4086

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From: school-gar...@googlegroups.com <school-gar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Em Shipman <emi...@kidsgardening.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 7:28 PM
To: tristana <tris...@sgsonetwork.org>
Cc: School Garden Support Organization Network <school-gar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: What do you do with cotton?

 

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[Shauna F]

If you chose to study cotton, you could consider profiling modern day Black growers, including the company Black Cotton https://www.blackcotton.us/.  Per their website, the founder, Julius Tillery is a native of the Roanoke Valley, North Carolina, and a 5th generation cotton farmer. He founded BlackCotton in 2016 to honor his roots and promote Black-grown cotton.

I cannot begin to speak to the curricular violence and other issues that others have spoken of, but perhaps highlighting a company that has reclaimed the power of what they are growing is a way to separate the plant from the practice? Just a thought.

Shauna Farmer

school garden volunteer in North Carolina

[Ben]

OP

"I love the opportunity to learn about where cotton and our clothes come from in a hands-on way! "

might I suggest garden educators show students the economics and environment costs of cotton

FYI years ago on NPR there was a series of stories what it took to make a cotton t-shirt

http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYa4zneKbeY

a related environmental issue is "fast fashion" which is highlighted in the documentary "the true cost"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-0zHqYGnlo

basically what people need to realize is science has shown consumer products (like fast fashion "cotton" clothing), has a pretty high environmental costs

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160224132923.htm

as I tried to point out in an earlier post if one does not consider the big picture about growing cotton this can lead to environmental disaster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ksqhdvA9DM

bottom line

Cotton is a water-intensive crop that also requires a significant amount of pesticides to successfully grow on an industrial scale. Each acre of planted cotton produces roughly 500 pounds of fiber in a single grow cycle, which can take anywhere between 120 and 200 days.

Hemp, on the other hand, takes just 70 to 110 days to produce 1,500 pounds of fiber per acre. It demands less water than cotton, as well as fewer pesticides or fertilizers. Moreover, the roots of the hemp plant aerate the soil in which they are planted, which improves the land for future crops. Because cotton requires high amounts of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, it has the opposite effect, generally degrading the soil in which it is grown for years to come.

http://grassrootstextiles.com/hemp-vs-cotton/

the reason it is important to consider alternative crops to cotton like industrial hemp (that uses less water),... is because looking at the science parts of the USA can experience drought conditions for periods that last thousands of years

AND these long term droughts in the south western USA happened before humanity placed thousands of gigatons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which is changing the climate (for example a warming trend in the polar regions)

A study in San Diego asked if people could identify the scientific reason why climate change is happening

The findings sadly no one could correctly answer the question

www.ThereIsNoPlanet-b.org

Make science in America great again

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[Pamela Flory]

I'll add this to the mix.

https://whereyourclothing.com/

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Pam Flory

609 480-8902

Garden Coordinator and Educator

Princeton Day School

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[Pamela Schwingl]

Yes, for sure Black Cotton https://www.blackcotton.us/. Julius Tillery is a very interesting and wonderful person!

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