The Garden Project of Southwest Colorado in Farm to School and how Farmers can get involved Presented By: Sandhya Tillotson Executive Director
Local nonprofit serving La Plata County since 1998 Mission: to grow a healthier community through the support & development of school & community garden programs that promote: Health & Wellness Environmental Stewardship & A Sustainable Local Food System We have helped build 19 school & community gardens in La Plata County
Objectives 1) Helping schools and nonprofit agencies create and/or enhance community and school garden programs 2) Providing the community with education and workshops on local food and gardening 3) Serving as a resource for families, organizations and schools 4) Focus on underserved populations at-risk youth, students on free & reduced lunch, low income families, the young and elderly
Highlights from 2015 January July 2015 we have: Provided 2500 gardening educational hours to 1600 youth and adult participants Engaged 400 volunteers in donating over 1100 volunteer hours to our garden projects Volunteers include: Farmers, Master Gardeners, Youth Groups, Homeless individuals, folks from all walks of life
Needham Elementary School Garden Newly re-vamped garden in 2014 Includes 24 raised beds (one for each class) and perennial gardens which are linked to the International Baccalaureate curriculum.
School Garden Programs Dirt Club After-School Gardening Program at 3 local elementary Schools New Jr. Gardeners Summer Camp at Needham Elementary Provided 14 financial scholarships for youth to participate in gardening education programs New 3 Year AmeriCorps Grant to develop school garden curriculum resources, serve as school garden coordinator, and provide FTS integration
School Garden Programs Received grant of $10,000 from The Payroll Department to develop school garden curriculum resources Goal to pilot at Needham Elementary in 2015-2016 Plans to spread school garden curriculum resources to all 9R Elementary Schools in near future Improve integration with cafeterias Need: $2,500 matching funds from community by October 2, 2015
Miller Middle School Garden New school garden at Miller Middle School Built in 2015 by Parents Science & Spanish teachers most excited to utilize Salsa Garden Potential for gardening education progression from elementary to middle school Strong support by Principal & PTO
Manna Soup Kitchen Garden Addressing Food Security issues by developing selfsufficiency skills All produce grown goes to the Soup Kitchen, Culinary Arts program and families in-need Weekly gardening workdays Teen Apprenticeship Program Bees, hoophouse, labyrinth garden, orchard
Manna Soup Kitchen Garden Provided 12 low-income families with free weekly Garden Shares from June October Connected 9 families with a 6 week long Cooking Matters cooking course Harvested over 500 pounds of produce from the Manna Soup Kitchen Garden so far in 2015 Integration with Culinary Arts Training Program through Mushroom workshops & freezing & canning
Ohana Kuleana Community Garden Started in 2013 1.5 acres (.5 acres of growing space) 45 community garden plots for 70 community gardeners plus 480 students of Riverview Elementary Monthly workshops on gardening, cooking, permaculture open to the community Wheelchair accessible raised beds
Ohana Kuleana Community Garden Permaculture Food Forest 900+ sq ft of growing space for Riverview Elementary Integration with Science Curriculum Diverse ages, gardening skill levels, economic & demographic backgrounds Not just growing food, GROWING COMMUNITY
Looking Forward Strengthening partnership with: City of Durango (use of city land for community gardens) La Plata Conservation District (drought resiliency education specific to SWCO) Montezuma School to Farm Project (shared resources and trainings with AmeriCorps members) 9R School District Nutrition Services (greater cafeteria & FTS integration student taste testing, growing more produce for cafeteria, youth farmers markets) Farm to School Network (applying for grants & attending conferences to strengthen FTS programs in La Plata County)
Contact Sandhya Tillotson Executive Director The Garden Project of Southwest Colorado sandhya@thegardenprojectswcolorado.org 970-317-1732