Catskill Edible Gardens Continue Growing
Building the next generation of healthy eaters and food entrepreneurs!
[Liberty, NY] – The Catskill Edible Garden Project has worked since 2012 with Sullivan County schools, daycares, and youth-focused non-profits to design edible gardens as outdoor educational and gathering spaces. Sullivan 180 partners with Catskill Mountainkeeper and Cornell Cooperative Extension to provide funding support, technical assistance, education, and programming.
Edible gardens offer hands-on experiences with healthy local food and exposure to food and agriculture as important aspects of our community and culture. Gardens give students the ability to be outside, use their power of observation, and to connect to their place in nature and within their community.
New this year is the availability of “grow kit” options, where applicants can select plants to have directly delivered to their garden as part of the grant. The summer grow kit, for example, includes tomatillo, tomato, celery, brussels sprout, strawberry, and marigold seedlings, as well as seed packets of cucumbers, bush beans, squash, and sunflowers.
"Our school garden is important because it teaches children about whole foods and where they come from. It shows them how easy it actually is to grow fruits and vegetables, and how enjoyable it can be to reap the benefits of your labor of love," shares Dennis Lankau, the Garden Coordinator at Kenneth Rutherford Elementary School.
Participants in this year’s grant program include the following entities and their intended focuses:
Eldred Jr. Sr. High School for building of new edible garden beds to be used in conjunction with Family & Consumer Science cooking classes as well as hands-on environmental study.
Emma C. Chase Elementary School for grow kits, seed-starting supplies, soil, and tools.
George L. Cooke School for grow kits, re-building of garden beds, and irrigation installation.
Homestead Primary School for grow kits, garden gloves, educational garden companion books, benches, and garden signs.
Homestead Collaborative College High School for seeds, fertilizer, irrigation supplies, and compost.
Kenneth L. Rutherford Elementary School for the use of expanded containers within the garden, repair of garden shed, and outdoor classroom seating.
Liberty Elementary School for grow kits, cedar vertical garden beds, and garden signage.
Livingston Manor Central School for grow kits, replacement of fence posts, and new hose equipment.
Roscoe Central School for seedling pots, soil, watering cans, and fruit trees to expand the indoor green room.
Sullivan County BOCES for expansion of the existing garden, new fencing and additional beds.
Sullivan West Elementary School for cold frames to extend growing season and supplies to expand garden medicinal herb education.
Tusten Heritage Community Garden for re-building of raised beds, fencing additions, and a shaded area for volunteers and events.
Valley Daycare for fencing and irrigation.
For more information or to get involved with the Catskill Edible Garden Project, contact Eva Bednar at 845-295-2719 or Eva@Sullivan180.org.