Community Gardens/Food & Garden Education

Program Director, Lisa Trocchia-Balkits
AmeriCorps/Program Coordinator, Badger Johnson

The Community Gardens/Food & Gardening Education program is rooted in community and sustainability. Our goals are to:

• increase fair access to fresh food through developing and supporting community gardens
• improve community resiliency by strengthening local food and gardening knowledge through education in Appalachian traditional foodways, permaculture and sustainable agriculture techniques, and food-based self-sufficiency skills
• provide low-income youth with business and leadership development training through gardening and food-based entrepreneurial opportunities

COMMUNITY GARDENS
With the current economic crisis intensifying the number of people experiencing poverty and food insecurity, community gardens are modern versions of Victory Gardens. Community gardens help people weather economic storms, inspire self-reliance and enhance health through increased access to whole foods, good nutrition and physical exercise. They also provide a common space for intergenerational interaction and knowledge sharing.

Our intention is to make these shared spaces sustainable by providing community gardeners with the leadership development skills necessary to transition to a self-governing, independent network. We currently coordinate five shared gardens in Athens County and continue to provide resource support to the 150 members of the Athens Westside Community Garden, the first to become self-governing in early 2011. Watch a video about the Westside Garden:

The gardens also serve as a vehicle for giving back to the larger community. In a region where almost 35% of the population lives in poverty, all CFI community gardeners pledge to give 10% of their harvests back to their friends and neighbors in need, or to the CFI Donation Station, for redistribution to area food banks and social service agencies. CFI community gardens are located in the communities of Athens (at the Hope Drive Apartments), Nelsonville, Chauncey, Stewart, and Glouster. Opportunities for gardening throughout the year are available. To obtain a community garden plot, email us or call 740.593.5971.

SEED SAVING
Facilitated by CFI and meeting monthly throughout the winter, a dedicated group of gardeners come together to share a potluck meal as well as resources, information and techniques for seed saving. The group, which is open to anyone with an interest, works with CFI to produce an annual Seed Saving Directory that identifies growers in southeastern Ohio who save open pollinated, heirloom varieties of vegetable seeds. Each January, the group hosts a yearly seed swap that is open to the public. Our work with seed saving provides education that strengthens our local food supply by encouraging genetic diversity in our foods, as well as promoting plants acclimatized to local growing conditions.

CFI hosts several free giveaways of vegetable seeds, tomato plants, and seed potatoes each spring. In 2011, we distributed 3,000 vegetable seed packets, 15,000 pounds of potatoes, and 1,000 tomato plants, free of charge, to low-income individuals, thanks to financial support from Jackson Area Ministries and the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund.

COMPOSTING
Composting reduces the volume of our solid waste stream and builds healthy soil, which, in turn, creates healthy food, and ultimately, healthy people. CFI provides many hands-on composting workshops throughout the year, builds composting systems at community gardens and schools, and informs the public on relevant composting techniques. Tools: The Key to Composting – Making your own Topsoil Treasure

EDIBLE ATHENS
Fruit trees planted to create a pretty landscape can also be a source of fresh nutritious food. Too often, these fruits are left unharvested. In 2010, in partnership with Dr. David H. Holben and Lisa Gromen, a graduate student in Environmental Studies at Ohio University, we worked with the City of Athens to identify fruit trees on public property and to generate volunteer support within the community to care for these trees.

This led to the creation of a searchable map with locations, types of fruit trees, and harvest times that assists residents in locating sources for peaches, mulberries, pears, cherries, apples and pawpaws – increasing access to no cost, fresh food for Athens residents.

FOOD & GARDENING WORKSHOPS
Each year CFI offers a variety of workshops that provide the knowledge and skills to grow, prepare and preserve healthy foods. These learning opportunities cover everything from how to prepare a garden, drying or canning the fruits of your gardening labor, wild foraging, cooking and more. View our 2011 Appalachian Foodways series.

USDA SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM
CFI has been successfully involved with local summer feeding site programs since 2009. This year’s program, the Be Bold camp, offered children new skills and hands-on experiences. Held at Federal Hocking Middle School in Stewart,OH , the program was made possible through collaboration with Kids on Campus which provides out-of-school enrichment activities to children throughout Athens County. The camp utilized a “seed to compost” and “zero waste” model, helping to cultivate self-reliance and increased food security. The camp had an average daily attendance rate of 44 students, ranging in grade levels from kindergarten to high school.

The kids planted, maintained, and harvested vegetables from their numerous on-site gardens. They also helped to prepare meals, and composted all food and napkin waste from their breakfast and lunch meals as well as from the kitchen. The kids were provided with breakfast and lunch, both of which were in compliance with the USDA dietary guidelines, completely plant-based, and comprised of mostly locally grown, fresh foods. CFI believes that designing a program around a commitment to sourcing local foods provides the freshest, most nutritious food to the children while helping to create markets that build a strong local food economy. You can read a blog about the camp’s activities here.

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
Funded by the Athens Metropolitan Housing Board, the Youth Entrepreneurs at Hope (YEAH) Kids Project is in its fourth year. The project is open to youths ages 12-18 residing in the Hope Street Apartments in the city. Currently eleven youths are honing their gardening skills, while tending their own garden at their apartment complex. We also support them in developing and growing a collaborative local foods enterprise.

With mentoring support, they have created a market plan and signage for their Athens Farmers Market booth and established pricing and accounting systems. They’ve also learned how to process some of their crops, making jams, jellies, pickles, and sauerkraut. In 2010, in partnership with Shagbark Seed & Mill Co., they learned about whole grains and beans, purchased some of the Mill’s items in bulk, repackaged them and sold them at the Market, earning nearly $500 for their efforts.