[Liberty, NY] – Sullivan 180 announced the 2023 Catskill Edible Garden Project grants for creation and care of food gardens at schools and daycare facilities. Grants ranging from $500 to $2,500 were awarded.

The Catskill Edible Garden Project (CEGP) works with schools and daycares to design edible gardens as living, outdoor educational and gathering spaces. These projects offer access to healthy food and exposure to agriculture as an important aspect of our community and culture. They also provide hands-on experience and time outside for engaging and connecting with the environment. Children experience sharing; engage in independent observation; learn about food and where it comes from; adopt healthy habits; reconnect with and explore their place in nature; build on a variety of school lessons; and strengthen a sense of place and pride.

“The Chase Garden is used daily by staff and students. It is an excellent educational space, as well as a fruitful garden space. We use the flowers we plant in Art class for observation drawing and painting. We also use the herbs and vegetables we grow in our school lunches. The courtyard garden space also adds an aesthetic quality to our school,” said Laurie Kilgore, Garden Coordinator for Emma C. Chase Elementary School.

The Catskill Edible Garden Project is a partnership between Sullivan 180, Catskill Mountainkeeper and Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County. The 2023 projects are focused on rebuilding, expansion and maintenance of established gardens at:

Emma C. Chase Elementary School: Rebuild the existing garden beds with more substantial lumber; add trellis, perennials, and containers.

Homestead Collaborative College High School: Install two raised beds, four trees and four shrubs to the existing garden at the Hurleyville campus of the Homestead Collaborative College High School.

Kenneth L. Rutherford Elementary School: Rebuild the existing garden while addressing water runoff with a French drain, the addition of a picnic table and blueberry bushes.

Liberty Elementary School: The replacement of rotten beds with outdoor seating and metal garden beds, as well as the addition of hoops for season extension and pest control.

Liberty High School: The purchase of a Tower Garden, supplies and maintenance of the existing edible garden.

Livingston Manor Central School: Plant blueberry bush, rhubarb plants, and add soil amendments to existing garden.

Sullivan County BOCES: The continued maintenance and enhancement of the edible garden.

Sullivan West Elementary School: The installation of a native edible pollinator garden alongside an existing edible garden.

For more information on how to get involved with the Catskill Edible Garden Project, or a project at your school, contact Alan Carroll at 845-295-2719 or Alan@Sullivan180.org.

Sullivan 180 is working to build a healthy community, one degree at a time, through people, places and policy with support from Bold Gold Media Group, The River Reporter, The Sullivan County Democrat, Manor Ink and WJFF Radio Catskill. Learn more at Sullivan180.org or Facebook.com/Sullivan180inc.