Cities are becoming important places for developing sustainable and locally-rooted food systems for meeting our nutritional needs. Many low-income residents of urban areas do not have access to sufficient fresh foods. Earth Care’s young leaders are working to grow fresh food and support an expanding network of urban gardens.
Community Gardens
In 2012, Earth Care will focus our efforts on establishing a new youth & community garden at the Zona del Sol space on the corner of Jaguar & Country Club Road. Our partner, HomeGrown NM has become a great support for the development of community gardens across Santa Fe.
In the Earth Care Youth & Community Garden we will grow a seasonal variety of vegetables using organic gardening techniques to ensure fresh and sustainably grown produce. The produce is used to support the our Food Not Bombs project. Earth Care will also offer individual plots for families and use the gardens as a venue for community gatherings, workdays, and educational workshops throughout the season.
For more information about getting involved in the 2012 growing season, contact Amy Hetager, Garden Coordinator at amy@earthcarenm.org or 983-6896.
Community Garden Resources
Earth Care is able to provide the following support to Santa Fe’s Community Gardens:
- Lending gardening tools from our Mobile Toolshed
- Garden Resource Directory – items useful for compost & soil systems, watering, water catchment & conservation, garden bed construction, potting, shading, season extension, etc.
- Seed Bank – A physical stock of seeds collected from area community/school gardens, growers/farmers, seed exchanges, and seed donations made available for Earth Care’s garden plots, school & community gardens, as well as for low-income household garden installations
- Neighborhood Resource Hubs – Locations throughout the city where compost materials and other raw gardening materials can be collected and stored for use by the community
- Garden Calendar – A calendar with seed exchanges, garden workshops throughout the city, garden workdays, and other related community events
- Cross-Garden Events – annual resource and knowledge exchange events for gardens throughout the City
Contact info@earthcarenm.org for more information.
Earth Care trains and places Earth Care Educators*AmeriCorps Members to serve as educational garden coordinators in eight local schools. Contact Christina@earthcarenm.org to find out how your school can apply for support for your school garden program.