For 4 years we've worked with at risk youth in our community in our giving gardens and at our very first on-site location of Jacob Center's- The Remington House. We were excited when we were invited to take Garden Time!, this past fall to join Colorado State University's Human Development & Resource Studies program called 'Campus Corps'.
On Thursday nights, member's of TGP gathered tools & materials and headed into the Campus Corps classrooms!
We brought our successful program of gardening with kids & prepared to get messy! And I mean that both literally and figuratively.

Kids love to get dirty and so introducing them to directed dirt digging, in a classroom, allowing a small garden box in which to play, thrilled these little worm-seekers! To keep it short, we had some fun!

The kids, mostly eager to just play in the dirt, came with a multitude of experiences with gardening. They enlightened us as we all shared time drawing, painting and planting. We taught them to 'let go' and accept that things in gardening (much like life) will go awry, and to take the learning opportunity to connect with the earth in a real and meaningful way. They'll learn respect for the forces of nature, see how life cycles through the seasons, and they'll actually enjoy eating the vegetables that they grow.

We're excited for the 2013 sessions and will be creating an abundance of activities that will keep these kids growing in the years to come! 

If you are interested in learning more about our Garden Time! Program and becoming a part of our volunteer team, email volunteer@thegrowingproject.org for more information

This has been quite the season for TGP. We added 3 giving gardens, our Garden Time! Horticultural therapy program grew from 1 to 2 locations, our new Project Grow with the Larimer County Corrections Center is making way in the spring, we traveled to Pine Ridge South Dakota to build a garden for our Lakota friends, and the Glean Team has reached its goal of 10,000 lbs of donated food! And this project continues to grow because of the unyielding support of our wonderful community, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving we want to offer a big THANK YOU for all you've done to help!

TGP would not be what it is today for not the tireless work of our volunteers; thank you for helping to build our garden beds, weed and harvest vegetables all summer long, and continually giving your time, heart and wisdom for all new projects we put forth.
We are also ever grateful for our local sponsors, so many of our efforts would not be possible without your contributions. Even throughout this recession you've funded our growth as well as your own, and for that we thank you. Big special shout out to Fort Collins Nursery, Bath Nursery, Odells Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing company, Mugs and Starbucks for all of your gift backs, campaign & project support and recognition throughout the year. 
Thank you to Fort Collins Housing Authority for aiding in the growth of a wonderful partnership that will hopefully keep living up to food. people. justice. for years to come!
And to our fans on Facebook & Twitter, and you newsletter recipients, thanks for spreading the word (& the love) about The Growing Project! 
Even as the end of the year draws nearer, our projects aren't letting up & the time is flying by. In the midst of all the shopping, turkey, football and family visits of this weekend we'd like to pause in honor of the true meaning of this holiday, and tell you all how grateful we are.  

Sincerely,
The Growing Project

TGP is thrilled to start collaboration and join forces with an AWESOME Fort Collins organization called Hammer Time!.  Hammer Time! works under the DIY principle, empowering people to help themselves by sharing resources and working and learning together.  Their mission is right in line with TGP's belief that if we teach a person to fish, they'll eat (build, make clothes, garden) forever!

Hammer Time! has many programs and resources that empower people, including:

• An extensive "infoshop" that has  invaluable literary references in the form of books, zines, magazines, journals, videos, and newspapers; all for either borrowing or use on-site.
• A Free Store, which is based on the barter system, allowing anyone who is willing to donate items of their own and sort them, to take whatever they want of what others have donated.  Is that the coolest idea or what!?  What a way to halt the production of more "things".
  
• Their "Seams" Fabrication Station, where for a small suggested donation per hour, fibercraftpersons (yes, I'm going to use that word) can use all supplies for sewing, knitting, crocheting, or embroidering; including patterns and fabric.
  
• A Tool Co-op, which is basically a fully stocked workshop, where people can bring things that need fixing and use the tools there to get the job done, or perhaps build something new right on site. 
• And finally, TGP's favorite...their Community Garden! Similarly to TGP's UFO Giving Gardens, gardeners work together volunteering, and in this way increase their self-sufficiency and learn more than they ever could from a book!  It is a collaborative process, where everyone not only learns together through seeing what works and what doesn't, but also gains the fruit of their labor once harvest comes! 

Discussions are still in the works regarding how close or extensive the collaboration will be between TGP and Hammer Time! But as we all see it, the sky is the limit, and we all agree that by working together, our two organizations can provide an incredible resource for building community, sharing knowledge, and helping our FC residents become empowered...all while having fun and getting more connected!

A huge kudos to all the folks at Hammer Time!, who have grown it from a dream to a thriving reality and sustainable model, in just two short years.

Today, Bath Nursery donated OVER 100 tomato and pepper starts to TGP!

As soon as we got the word, 3 of us headed over to the nursery, with cars empty and ready to be loaded, but there were so  many starts that all 3 cars were filled up and we could take no more! 

We are very grateful for this very generous donation, as will be many hungry and lusciously dripping (with tomato juice) FC mouths, come late summer.  We were in desperate need for these starts, and without them, most of our gardens would have been void of tomatoes this summer...the crown jewel of any summer garden.

So thanks to Bath nursery for saving the day, and for contributing to countless bowls of salsa and Caprese salads this summer! :-)

This month, husband and wife team Jeff and Kathleen Baumgardner came to our Board meeting and presented us their idea for a local cafe, based off a bartering system, where people volunteer in exchange for fresh, healthy, local cooked food.  The goal is for anyone to have at least one exceedingly healthy meal per day, regardless of whether they can pay or not.

They shared how their vision is based off the successful SAME cafe, the first non-profit restaurant in Denver, whose mission is of "serving food for the greater good".  The front page of the Same Cafe's website says "Everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy food while being treated with dignity."  

As Kathleen spoke about their cafe and why they are so dedicated to starting this in Fort Collins, her passion and compassion were deeply evident, as well as infectious, and you could tell that she believed deeply in this idea of personal dignity.   She passed on a story that she had heard from the people at Same Cafe, which illustrates this commitment to building people's sense of dignity and of having something valuable to contribute.  To paraphrase her story: "When people first come in, their heads are held low...you can tell they are ashamed and don't know where they fit in or what they have to contribute.  But someone will immediately take them under their wing and before asking any questions or putting them to work, they'll get them comfortable and serve them a delicious, warm meal.  Once they feel satiated and welcome, their heads are a little bit higher, and then they'll be given a simple job...maybe just stacking chairs.  The next time they come in, their heads are held even higher, and they immediately ask how they can help, offer their services with pride, and feel comfortable.  Each time they come in, their confidence gets higher and higher as they see they are being treated like a human being who has something valuable to give.  Soon enough, they feel like they're an important contributor, and feel a part of a family."

So TGP discussed potential avenues for collaboration, and among others came up with 2 obvious and simple ideas: Produce from TGP's giving gardens could go to their kitchen for use in the cafe, and FoCo volunteers could also volunteer in our gardens. Also, if FoCo Cafe happened to find a location with garden space available, then TGP could set up a UFO garden onsite at the restaurant, allowing volunteers to work right there and for the harvest to go straight into the kitchen!  Since a lot of TGP's produce still goes to the Food Bank, and we are looking for more and more opportunities to "teach people to fish rather than just giving them fish", designating some of our produce to the FoCo cafe would be in line with that goal. Right now, these are all just ideas, but we are hoping that FoCo Cafe is successful and able to quickly realize their dream of openeing their doors, whatever level of collaboration TGP has with them. 

Here is more info from the FoCo Cafe website:

FoCo Cafe Mission:
Building community by providing nutritious and delicious meals to the people of Fort Collins regardless of their ability to pay while using local, organic, and sustainably grown ingredients.

FoCo Cafe Vision:
We strive to build a healthy community by providing delicious and nutritious food in a respectful and dignified manner to anyone who walks through the door and wants to contribute to our community. We envision that the quality of the food and the comfortable atmosphere will draw people from all walks of life and entice them to become involved. Volunteers will feel satisfied by their experience on many levels, because the cafe is a vehicle that positively impacts our community environmentally, economically, and socially.

FoCo Cafe Values:

• Every human innately has dignity and should be treated as such.
• Every duty, volunteer or otherwise, has value.
• Participating in a community nourishes the soul.
• Everyone deserves to eat nutritional food.
• All people need a hand up at some point(s) in their lives.

                                                            A la comida compartida!

Since Becky Weidhaas started working with TGP as our Volunteer Coordinator, she has been nothing but blessings, hard work, smiles, and kick-butt volunteer coordination!  And for her efforts, she received a Certificate of Recognition last month from United Way!

Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for her, she will be leaving Fort Collins this August, to move on to great endeavors at Washington University in St Louis for a Master of Social Work. As this is the #1 MSW Program in the US, this is quite an accomplishment; so although she will be sorely missed, we are nothing but proud of her and wish her all the best!

What we will both miss and remember her most for is her awesome job on creating and managing our weekly volunteer newsletter, titled "Dig This", in which she manages to colorfully and accurately highlight the week's events for all to come and enjoy. Before she joined us, we were somewhat flailing around in our attempts to capture the attention and ongoing interest of the community...but with our knock-out newsletter, we now regularly have people enthusiastically showing up at our gardens, checking out our website more often, and just in general becoming more interested in TGP.

So Congratulations for all your dedication and hard work Becky!!!

We are proud to announce that Chad has been recognized by the United Way of Larimer County for his tireless work and enthusiasm for The Growing Project!  He was featured in The Coloradoan, where they wrote:

"Chad Shavor has the ability to get folks excited about getting their hands dirty, working away under a hot sun and then giving away the fruits of their labor. Shavor serves as co-director of The Growing Project, a Fort Collins based nonprofit run entirely by volunteers that uses community gardening to grow and donate food to those in need. Since its inception three years ago, Shavor has transformed The Growing Project from a flickering idea into a thriving community effort. He also founded the Urban Foods Outreach program and supports local youths at residential treatment facilities by providing therapy through gardening."

Congrats Chad, and thanks for all your hard work and dedication!

Click here to see article.

When The Growing Project (TGP) was asked by Global Natural Health Alliance (GNHA) to collaborate on a garden build at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, a team of our leaders promptly headed up to the reservation this past weekend for a 4 day jaunt into the land of the Lakota tribe.  The experience will be remembered and treasured, and hopefully repeated in the seasons to come!


Upon arriving on the reservation, the first item of business was to check out the locations of the garden plots. At first glance, we were disappointed and very concerned to see that the soil appeared to be infertile ashy silt and that it would be impossible to grow anything. So we scoped the land for signs of vegetation and life…and soon, we thankfully encountered alfalfa, bind weed, blades of grass, and acres upon acres of fertile soil! There was now enthusiasm in the group for the growing and digging in the days ahead, and the design, construction and layout needs began to take shape.

Once we arrived at camp to unload gear and get our tents in place, our hopes and concerns for the soil quickly shifted; every few minutes, the stormy clouds and gusts of wind began to show signs of just how much weather could halt the garden plans altogether. Just as our camps were set up, and talk of the next day’s plans were underway, we found ourselves hunkered down in the private home of our host for several hours to stay warm and dry. Thunderstorms continued to drive in heavy wind and rain. It rained the entire night and by the early morning, the thick mud brought several delays in obtaining materials and other needs for the gardens. These delays had several of us worried. Would we get the garden built? What, in the given amount of short time, could we possibly manage to build? Would this garden even actually happen?  It was frustrating for the volunteers and leaders on both sides, and certainly more questions arose as the planning and designs began.  What was certain, we would do whatever we could to begin, rain or not…we were going to begin.

The weather was windy, rainy, and at times downright unbearable; especially to work in. A little sunshine would seep through, a break in the rain would allow small advances the whole day, and little by little the materials were obtained. Finally, 24 hours into our adventure, we were given the opportunity to begin!  Soon, each rake, shovel, and pitchfork did their part to lay out the beginnings of the Jail House garden.  As the moisture from the night storm made its way deeper into the newly tilled soil, it began to show its life through gifts of huge earth worms and tiny little toads. After all the concerns, all the what if’s; this fertile wet soil was clearly showing signs that this all will work! As the drip tape was measured and laid, and the final pieces of the irrigation line were being dealt with, the seeds and plants, and a few trees were planted in the ground.  By sunset, the chatter among the volunteers, and later the jail mates, went from, “Wow, look how much we’ve gotten done” to “Wow, look at how much we could do further!”

We left South Dakota knowing that although this little 'big garden took more effort than we had anticipated, it also gave us all a reflective view of what exactly it takes to live on a reservation. As we drove home, I thought a lot about the evening we were invited to a “night fire dance” at one of the local elder’s homes for a meal and to celebrate in community. We watched as members of the younger Lakota tribe were called by name to participate in a “celebration of service.”  These young men and women were celebrated in a drum song, as they danced around 3 large fires. The elders in the audience looked at each of the young members as the future of the tribe and celebrated them in their honor, honesty, integrity, and for their community work.  After the dance, each member was asked by the drum leader to go out into the audience and “shake everyone’s hand”. One by one, each of the young members reached out their hands, looked you in the eye and shook your hand. What a proud moment that we were able to share in, and what a turning point in all of our hard work and dedication for the garden we were asked to help build. After such a poignant and enriching evening, we returned to the garden the next day with a new lens of tradition and community through which to look.

When the rain was heavy, and gardening was delayed, we ventured out into the reservation community. We visited the Wounded Knee memorial, a burial site that housed many of the tribe’s greats who were killed in battle, and read about their bravery as we visited the Wounded Knee museum. The museum honored and remembered their tribal leader’s service through pictures, quotes, and paintings on the wall. We were able to take in a different view of the Lakota as a tribe with so much to look forward to… and upon reflection; we were brought here to help in the healing of all of the pain from the past. For us, this was no longer just a garden at a jail site, but a way for us to take part in a collaborative tribe garden for the youth and generations of community leaders who will turn it into a way of giving back, like so many of the Lakota elders before them.
 
I had gone up there originally thinking that I was the one who had so much to give, to teach, and to contribute; but in the end I was the one who had received.  Through so many examples I witnessed during my short stay, I saw how much they had to teach, and I to learn, about what really makes community. 

We feel truly blessed to have been asked to participate, and very honored to be part of this story.