In January, Pie Ranch hosted a special visitor for the second time. Laquanda Dobson is a 17 year old senior at University City High School in Philadelphia. Laquanda works with the Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI), which is an organization in Philly that collaborates with local schools and communities to improve health through gardening and nutrition education. Laquanda and the UNI garden coordinator, Debbie Harris, visited Pie Ranch while in California for a conference on changing food systems.  Laquanda first visited Pie Ranch last summer for the Rooted In Communities youth conference. One of the days of her January visit coincided with the new Mission High School garden group’s visit.  Through her strong youth leadership, she helped the Pie Ranch staff lead the day’s activities, from introductions, to pie baking, to sharing her supreme skills around the kitchen.

Laquanda had this to say about her visit: “The best part of my experience at Pie Ranch was that the people there welcome you with open arms and that Sky teaches how to make a nice pie.  It was my first time making a pie and I usually don’t like pumpkin. Since I knew what was going in it, I was willing to give it a try. And now I like pumpkin pie. Pie Ranch was an inspiring place because one night when I stayed there I looked up at the sky and the stars were real nice. Coming from the city it is a privilege to see stars.  When the kids from Mission High came we broke up into 3 groups. Dede took us up to a high point of the farm. We sat we listened to the sounds of the farm and it was peaceful up there. “