I read desperate comments left on blogs that reflect a growing frustration from people who have learned the importance of growing your own vegetables, but lack the skills to do it. Don’t worry, you have a great idea and there IS help available. Your frustration stems from the rapidly disappearing, or dare we say –nearly lost, skills that were taken for granted on the “family farms” of past generations. So, where in the world could the average person start from scratch and learn to “grow like pro”? Try Missoula, Montana.
I recently spoke with Tim Hall, the community garden director of the Garden City Harvest program located in the western Montana town of Missoula. He told me an amazing success story about a program started in 1996, growing vegetables on a small plot of land that ballooned into a sprawling network of vegetable gardens supported by the entire community. You can find out more about this program through their website located at: http://gardencityharvest.org/index.html. Tim says they offer garden-growing help to everybody that participates in any of the four programs within the Garden City Harvest organization. According to the website, the help comes from: different grants, foundations, local schools, the Courts, a supporting staff, a board of directors, local businesses, private donations, local buyers (shares), volunteers and others. The help goes to: students –for class credit, local food banks, volunteers (paid in-kind for their work), low income recipients and others in an effort to meet the goals of GCH’s mission statement:
Garden City Harvest’s Mission Statement:
1. Provide high quality food to low-income people.
2. Offer education and training in ecologically conscious food production.
3. Use our sites for the personal restoration of troubled youth and adults.
The mountain of work to coordinate all of these different interests seems to be a daunting task. However, over time, the pieces have fit together perfectly to form a truly “win-win” program that could easily be the right model for future growers of local vegetables. The hard-to-get resources of seeds, tools and plots of land have already been found and organized for the participants, together with a two-way communication system that provide answers for the participant to the never-ending questions about growing. Credit goes to the hardworking staff made up of dedicated and passionate people like Tim. To those of us who worry if it is even possible to grow our own vegetables, once we choose to do so, the answer is a resounding “YES”. People like us are doing it right now, even as we read this blog.That is proof that it can be done.
For others of us who are already growing vegetables; by learning from parents, are self-taught, or have found help, take at look at this model – it works. Many frustrated people need a helping hand from you that have gained the experience. You may be pleasantly surprised by the benefits of helping. After all, “you reap what you sow”, right?
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