The Youth Garden Project
A new project to bring together Eastern Oregon youth from three counties to work and learn in the La Grande, Baker City and Ontario community gardens. Oregon Rural Action was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the Collins Foundation for partial funding of a Youth Garden Project, and the Wildhorse Foundation awarded $2,100 for seeds and educational materials.
This spring a new project will bring together Eastern Oregon youth from three counties to work and learn in the La Grande, Baker City and Ontario community gardens. Oregon Rural Action was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the Collins Foundation for partial funding of a Youth Garden Project, and the Wildhorse Foundation awarded $2,100 for seeds and educational materials.
To bring the project to fruition, Oregon Rural Action members are teaming up with partners in each of the counties to teach children how to plan and start their own gardens, how to cook with the foods they grow, and how to engage with their own communities by working with food banks and giving a portion of their harvest back.
Partners include Eastern Oregon University, Eastern Oregon Head Start, Oregon State Agriculture Extension Service, Baker County Fair Board, La Grande Friday Backpack Program, the Boys and Girls Club of Western Treasure Valley, and local food banks in each of the three participating counties.
- Working together to make apple cider at the last garden workparty of 2010 in the La Grande Community Garden. Photo by Shaun Daniel.
The Youth Garden Project will engage around 100 youth in two different ways. Older youth will be able to work with trained volunteers and master gardeners at the community garden sites to decide what they want to plant, and harvest in their garden space. Younger students, meanwhile, will have the chance to work garden plots specifically designed for their age group in collaboration with Eastern Oregon Head Start and Boys and Girls Club.
In recognition of the diversity of area communities, trainings will be offered in both English and Spanish when appropriate.
Families of participating youth will be invited to participate in gardening, cooking, and preserving demonstrations at open workdays in the community gardens. A “Harvest Meal” is scheduled at the end of the season for volunteers, participants and their families.
Growing the Gardens
Members of Oregon Rural Action have played a central role in all three gardens represented in the program. In 2010, members in Baker City created the community’s first such garden. In Malheur County, Snake River Chapter members expanded the Four Rivers Community Garden in Ontario with hundreds of hours of volunteer work, ultimately harvesting 478 lbs of produce for the food pantry.
Last year members of the Blue Mountain Chapter nearly doubled the size of the La Grande Community Garden to 24 plots, involving Head Start kids and low income families, and coordinating fun-filled workdays like an October cider pressing that drew more than 50 people. The group has already doubled the size of the garden again this year. (Watch the video of "A Year in the La Grande Community Garden.")
“The community garden is an important asset to our town and our Head Start center,” said Rosina Armon, Family and Community Partnership Manager for Eastern Oregon Head Start in La Grande. “We are looking forward to involving parents and children in the community garden.” Members and staff hope that this project can help inspire children to engage positively in their community, improve food choices, and enhance their confidence and self-esteem.
“I believe this program can enrich the lives of hundreds more Oregon youth, thereby enriching the lives of their families and strengthening our communities." said Emily Fisk, Outreach Services Director for Southeast Oregon Regional Food Bank.
The Collins Foundation and Wildhorse Foundation have provided initial support, but organizers are still hoping to raise $9,000 to ensure capacity to coordinate full implementation of the project.
Get Involved
Everyone is invited to participate by making a donation, sharing skills in gardening, cooking, or preserving or by attending garden events to learn these skills.As we head into summer and the end of the school year, we need to raise $9,200 to make sure we can fully implement the project with volunteer coordination, staff support, travel expenses, event planning, curriculum development, and formation of a food policy council.
Please consider making a donation of whatever amount you can afford to help 100 Eastern Oregon youth and their families have the opportunity to learn lifelong self-sufficiency skills and engage in the food and agricultural policy that affects how we eat.
We're also looking for people interested in helping teach classes and work with youth participants. Contact us at 541-975-2411, email info@oregonrural.org, or stop by our office in La Grande to find out other ways you can get involved.
Youth Garden Project Events
- Head Start classroom visits (ongoing)
- Basics of Gardening Workshop (La Grande, April 9)
- Community Garden Workparty (La Grande, April 10)
- Celebrate Earth Day at the Community Garden (La Grande, April 22)
- EOU Intact classes (ongoing)
