BECY: A Season At-a-Glance (Part 2)

By: Chesed Chap, 2021 Borderlands Earth Care Youth Intern ​

​WEEK 4: We loaded up the van and the BECY crew is headed to the Huachuca Mountains this week! In an epic crossover episode, the Patagonia and Douglas BECY crews worked together throughout the week in the Huachuca Mountians. We focused on building rock structures, which support water flow for the local quail populations. Both crews played epic games of ultimate frisbee and capture the flag, surrounded by beautiful mountain views. Many laughs were shared with our sister crew, and many naps were taken on the car rides back home. ​

WEEK 5: We begin at Deep Dirt Farm, learning from the farm’s founder Kate Tirion about permaculture. We toured the farm’s housing and gathering spaces, which utilized materials like handmade adobe bricks, glass bottles, and satellite dishes. Monday was spent mulching and trail building at Deep Dirt, with special guests from the University of Arizona’s MFA Creative Writing program. Our creative writing mentors joined us again on Tuesday in the Borderlands offices to lead us in poetry writing exercises, which helped us form a special presentation for our BECY graduation! Later this week, we also installed a cistern at the Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center, which will harvest rainwater to support the vegetable garden. ​

WEEK 6: Last week! How did the summer go so fast? No time to be heartbroken though, our last week kicks off at Santa Fe Ranch. Once again joined by our friends from the University of Arizona, we return to Santa Fe Ranch to see the progress our rock structures have made since we built them in 2019. We also spend the day learning about sustainable ranching, and on our way make a quick pit stop for Sonoran hotdogs in Nogales.

Tuesday we hit the writers’ room once again to craft the graduation performance piece of a lifetime, Wednesday we build a rock rundown and install irrigation at Patagonia Union High School, and on our last day of the season we mulch our trees at the community forest at Doc Mock Park in downtown Patagonia.

Looking back at another BECY season gone by, I know exactly why I came back- for the jaguars, the zuni bowls, trees in the park that will be there for years to come, capture the flag with our sister crew, Deep Dirt, poetry workshops, Sonoran hotdogs, meeting new people and seeing new places, and making new memories.

I deeply stand by the notion that everyone should do BECY at least once in their life. While we only spend a short summer together, we spend a year in between each season knowing we did work in our community that made a difference, and it’s the best feeling in the world. So, as we wrap up another season, plant something, take a stroll through Doc Mock Park, and hopefully we’ll see you next summer. 

To learn more about BECY or how to support this program please visit our website.