Supporting community and school gardens in Vermont.
I’m Sharon Newman, Garden Coordinator for Chittenden County affordable housing, a partnership between VGN and Champlain Housing Trust (CHT). One site I have spent a lot of time at this season is Beacon, permanent housing for homeless residents, located in South Burlington. Back in March, as I did my pre-season check in, I noticed that the winter […]
By Gordon Clark, Coordinator, Vermont Victory Gardens Inspired by a Hunger Council meeting early in 2019, some residents in the Village of Barton, Vermont, close to the Canadian border in Orleans County, decided to build a few raised beds for local residents in need. There were no takers. Issues of time, experience, skills and tools […]
A conversation with Mindy Blank, Executive Director, Community Resilience Organizations This actually gives me a lot of hope for the future because agriculture is something that can realistically be regenerative—obviously, it will take a lot of work for regenerative agriculture to become a common practice, but it can be done. Regeneration Corps participant from Sharon […]
Community gardens partnering with food shelves to determine what to grow and how to donate it is an essential step in getting fresh food to those who need it. In the Northeast Kingdom and the Mad River Valley, two food shelves are flipping that narrative by reaching out to their local communities to see what […]
The UVM Extension Community Horticulture Program (Master Gardener & Composter) trains volunteers and uses research-based gardening information to help all Vermonters improve their gardening, leadership and environmental stewardship skills. How the program works: After completing a 16-week online course, trainees become volunteer Interns. To transition from an Intern to a Certified Master Gardener (EMG), trainees […]
Stamford VT Seed Savers – Stamford, VT Helen Fields and her husband, Stephen Greene, are both long-time advocates and organizers for bringing gardens and garden-based education into the communities where they live and work. The couple’s most recent project is the Stamford VT Seed Savers, a local garden education program, growing and seed saving at […]
Malletts Bay Congregational Church – Colchester, VT Dan Dougherty had been trying to get his church to start a community garden on excess land the church owns for years, but unsuccessfully. “I had seen an article in Seven Days about Victory Gardens and it was like BAM! Most of our congregation will be able to […]
Many people turned to gardening this season as a simple act of hope–to plant a seed is to bring life. Others sought out a new hobby to combat the idleness of this “pause” and commune in the great outdoors. And many more saw the potential of gardens to address freshly exposed realities, long-lived and new, […]
This year has been different for so many reasons, but various things have recently fallen into place for the Charlotte School garden and it feels like there is more interest, need and use for the garden than ever. Due to a combination of several things: greater need in the community, the food shelf open every week […]
To till or not to till, that is the question… By Libby Weiland, Statewide Network Coordinator One of the things I love most about community gardens–and I’m struck by it each time I pay a visit–is the fact that there are as many growing methods and gardening styles as there are gardeners to employ them. […]
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