On Wednesday the 17th of May we woke up early with the sound of lawn mowers trimming the lands of the PXL University. There seems to be a desire to keep this campus really clean, an urge to tame any kind of 'wildness' that emerges from beneath the soil. One of the plants they were removing was Charlock (sinapis arvensis), which was popping up all over. After doing some research on this plant we learned that the leaves can be cooked as vegetables and that the flowers and seeds can be used to make a mustard dressing. When reading this, the initial frustration we felt towards the gardeners made room for an opportunity! We immediately saved a few plants from being shredded to pieces and started making some wild mustard. The remaining leaves were transformed into a soup which we later handed out to hungry students and teachers. It seemed fitting to present our first jar of mustard to the gardeners, since their actions inspired us to start this experiment in the first place. When we presented our gift, the distance that was initially between us melted away like snow on a summer day. When seeing someone's actions, we can always choose how to perceive them. We can either allow anger to further separate two worlds or we can take an opportunity to build a tiny bridge between them.
