Our Goals
_
Our goals are to increase urban food security, urban
sustainability and awareness in agriculture and differing food systems. To create aesthetically pleasing, productive
and sustainable gardens and boxes to act as an educational bridge to increase involvement
in growing, preparing and eating home-grown food, imparting values such as community
connectedness, civic and environmental responsibility. To promote a socially
responsible company that mentors and supports its' employees. To provide a
portion of potential profits back into the community through volunteerism. To support local businesses in becoming more
sustainable.
Eating Seasonally
_ Gardens can provide
the base of a meal, as one incorporates produce that is ready in the
garden into meals. Take a stroll outside, scope out what looks ready and which ingredients would
complement each other nicely. Harvest the foods, take off any large
leaves that can be composted, and bring the vegetables and fruits into the
kitchen for cleaning. By preparing meals in this way, taste preferences are incorporated, as well as seasonal eating. In the winter, it is
mostly cabbages, leaks, kale, turnips and Brussels sprouts that are
harvestable, while the rest of the garden lays dormant. In the early spring,
spinach and garlic scapes are added to the bounty. In the late spring, early
summer, lettuce, strawberries, herbs, small beets, beet greens, chard,
radishes and green onions are now ready. In the summer we are blessed with the
full bounty of harvest, with a seemingly unlimited selection. Then in the fall
potatoes, parsnips and second rotations of onions and shallots are ready, in
addition to winter raspberries. In this way, gardens are used to foster
seed to table connections where food is grown, harvested, prepared, cooked and eaten. This reconnects folks to their local food system and re-incorporated self-sufficiency in the diet.
In this way, food that is harvested can guide the meals that are prepared, rather
than the conventional mindset of deciding what you want, finding it in the
supermarket, and then preparing it.