Gardening Series--Learn. Grow. Eat Fresh!

2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$360

Project of

Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative Legacy Grant SFY 2014 - SFY 2015

Fund Source

Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund

Recipient Type

Libraries

Status

Completed

Start Date

April 2014

End Date

May 2014

Activity Type

Education/Outreach/Engagement

Counties Affected

Sibley

Project Overview

This grant was a community collaboration to raise awareness of gardening and eating healthy and fresh foods. We offered four gardening classes at the library, along with a workshop at the food shelf. We also promoted donations of fresh food at the food shelf, with an "Adopt a Bale for the Food Shelf" campaign. Starting a seed library at the library was also a way for us to promote eating fresh. The kids planted a small garden for the new patio at the library during our "Gardening with Kids" class.

Project Details

187 participated

Project Details: 2014 Fiscal Year

Legal Citation / Subdivision

Laws of Minnesota for 2013 Chapter 137, Article 4, Section 2, Subdivision 4

2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$360

Other Funds Leveraged

$2,110

Direct expenses

$2,470

Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Participants will learn new gardening skills, be motivated to grow their own fresh food and eat more fresh foods and be motivated to grow fresh food for the local food shelf.

Measurable Outcome(s)

We were overwhelmed by the great response to our gardening classes. Our total number of attendance was 187. Over 5% were people who have never attended a class at the Gaylord Library. We distributed 34 bales for "Adopt-a-Bale for the Food Shelf." So far we have had 41 patrons check items out from the seed library, with over 200 packets of seeds checked out (and a limit of 5 packets per person.) It will be interesting to see how many will bring back seeds to the library. One of the great results from this project is that the SE Agriculture Department found funding to give 10 CSA garden shares weekly to the food shelf this summer, so we will have garden-fresh food for clients at the food shelf! It is amazing how networking works and how one grant can lead to another!