Grow Your Own - Vermont Foodbank...Grow Your Own The mission of Grow Your Own is to increase food...

Grow Your Own

The mission of Grow Your Own is to increase food independence, better health, and well-being through shared

knowledge and experience.

GYO is a collaborative effort of the Hardwick Area Food Pantry, the Center for an Agricultural Economy,

and NEK Kids on the Move

Began in 2014 with 5 workshops and 17 attendees

In 2017 GYO offered 13 workshops, mentorship program, seed giveaway, sent 10 newsletters to 75+

members, and had over 100 workshop attendees

8 person steering committee to guide programming, fundraising, and expansion

Our partnerships have expanded to include local schools, churches, small business owners, and farms

Workshops are hands-on and include shared food, open discussion time, and free childcare

Included in this packet:

Annual calendar of workshops for 2018

Newsletter (sent out to members monthly)

Outreach/publicity plan

Invitations to workshops (distributed locally)

Leader orientation

Workshop questionnaire (filled out at the end of each workshop)

GYO program design worksheet

2018 Workshops January 13: Soil Science

February 3: Bread Baking

March 3: Mushroom Growing

April 7: Healthy Snacks

May 5: TBD

June 2: Wild Edibles Walk (3 hours)

July 7: Companion Planting

September 1: Food Storage

October 6: Cold Frames/Putting the Garden to Bed

November TBD: Pies for People

Gatherings are from 11:30-1:30

All workshops of the Grow Your Own program are FREE and open to the public. Childcare

offered on request. Shared meal. Please reserve a spot by the Wednesday before the workshop

by calling or emailing Ruby at 472-5940 or [email protected]

Carol brought a wealth of knowledge to a

packed house. She walked participants

through the life cycle of mushrooms.

Then she demonstrated two methods for

growing mushrooms, one inside and one

outside. The mushroom kits provided a

hands on opportunity to see the oyster

mushrooms in various stages of emer-

gence. Then the group drilled holes in

log sections, hammered in the spore

plugs, and waxed over the holes to make

outdoor shiitake logs. At the end of the

session 2 oyster

mushroom kits and 2 shiitake logs were

raffled off to participants. The group en-

joyed a delicious stirfry lunch which fea-

tured shiitake mushrooms. Yum!

Mushroom Growing with Carol Fairbank

On April 7th Grow Your Own will be exploring a couple of new part-

nerships to offer a workshop on Healthy Snacks. Allison Van Ak-

keren is joining us from Sterling College and will bring her extensive

knowledge of nutrition and delicious eating to make this a fun filled

day. As we are hoping to encourage more families to explore cook-

ing with their children, Hardwick Elementary School will be hosting

this workshop in their Teaching/Café classroom. As this is a school,

there is increased security, so be sure to contact Laura at the Hard-

wick Area Food Pantry to clarify where and when to enter the build-

ing. Bring your kids or just yourselves for a fun day in the kitchen!

To sign-up or for more questions, contact Laura at:

(802) 472-5940 or [email protected]

Healthy Snacks with Allison Van Akkeren

Volume 3, Issue 2, 4/5/18

Fungi, Fungi, Fungi

Spent indoor kits can be lay-

ered with log coins to create

an outdoor “totem”

Old laundry baskets make a

great place to grow mus-

rooms in a substrate such as

wood chips or spent grain

Grow mushrooms in raised

beds in the garden

Use freshly cut wood when

making “totems” or logs

OTHER WAYS TO GROW

MUSHROOMS

Have an idea for

a GYO workshop?

Let us know!

This workshop

was sponsored

by the Craftsbury

General Store.

EXCITING NEWS!

The next Perennial Care workshop will take place on

April 21st at 9 am, and we are opening up 6 spaces

to the general public! Russ Brown is a 40 year

pruning veteran and will guide us through the ba-

sics of pruning trees, with the main focus being on

apple trees. The workshop will be offsite but we will

carpool from Atkins Field. Afterwards we will have

a potluck lunch. Please DRESS in LAYERS, as this

workshop will be outside RAIN or SHINE! Suggested

donation for community members is $25 but don’t

let cost stop you! Let Ruby know at

[email protected] if you would like to

join us!

To remove your name from our mailing list, please respond with subject line: unsubscribe.

Questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] or call 802-472-

Volume 3, Issue 2, 4/5/18

PAGE 2

WIC Community Program

All GYO workshops for 2018 have been

approved as WIC Community Programs

and can be used to satisfy the requirements

of your WIC benefits. Be sure to tell the

staff person if you would like us to record

this for you with the WIC office.

The CAE and CVSWMD are hoping to host a repair café on April 28th. Location TBD. Get in touch with

Bethany [email protected]) to learn more. For more information on Repair Cafés, check

out: http://www.cvswmd.org/what-is-a-repair-cafe.html

Hardwick Area Food Pantry Welcomes a New

Executive Director!

Laura Wilkinson brings her extensive

knowledge of agriculture and community life to

HAFP this week. She is very excited to be join-

ing the team and we are thrilled to have her!

Ruby Baker is the new Executive Director at

Community of Vermont Elders where she will be

working to ensure a better life for older Ver-

monters across the state through advocacy and

education. She is sad to leave but excited for

this new part of her journey.

Grow Your Own Outreach Plan Create- Quarter page invitation, Newspaper/Calendar blurb 6 weeks in advance Quarter-page invitations printed and cut 4 weeks before workshop Distribute quarter page invitations at food pantry, post around town. Submit Newspaper/Calendar blurb to free calendar listings in all local and surrounding area newspapers, radio stations, online calendars, facebook page Green Mtn Trading Post – need to submit advertisement the Monday morning before each month’s new edition North Country Notes- send workshop blurb to be published in Green Mtn Trading Post for each month Thursday before a gathering: 10 quarter page invitations to the Hardwick Community Lunch Post Newspaper/Calendar Blurb on Front Porch Forum and repost on Facebook Sample Newspaper/Calendar Blurb: Grow Your Own will host a gathering on May 2 from 11:30-1:30 at Atkins Field in Hardwick on the topic of wild edibles. Jane Doe will lead the workshop about wild edible plants and we will share a meal. Workshops are free and open to the public but RSVP is mandatory as space is limited. Children aged 6 and older are welcome to participate. Childcare is available for younger children if arranged in advance. We can sometimes provide transportation as well. RSVP to Hardwick Area Food Pantry at 802-472-5940. Grow Your Own is a project of the Center for an Agricultural Economy, the Hardwick Area Food Pantry and NEK Kids on the Move.

New location: Hardwick Elementary Enter at the kindergarten hallway door

(facing Catholic church parking lot) Free of charge BUT

SPACE IS LIMITED!!! Reserve your family’s spot by April 4.

Contact Ruby Baker -Hardwick Area Food Pantry

802) [email protected]

Let’s make snacks: muffins, hummus April 7, 11:30 to 1:30, Kid-friendly, family

workshop and meal with Allison Van Akkeren

Grow Your Own








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Grow Your Own

Grow Your Own: background and format

The mission of Grow Your Own is to increase food independence, better health and wellbeing through shared knowledge and experience. Dear Potential Workshop Leader, Thank you for considering being a leader for one of our Grow Your Own workshops. We have developed a format and culture of sorts for our gatherings. This is our way of explaining that so you can be prepared.

1. Grow Your Own is a program run by the Center for an Agricultural Economy, the

Hardwick Area Food Pantry and NEK Kids on the Move. About half of the people who usually attend workshops are clients of the pantry. This information is confidential and we avoid discussing anything about who is and who is not a pantry client during events.

2. Children are often participating or in attendance. We have found allowing children is an essential component. If a number of children will be on hand we will provide child care.

3. We usually have about ten -15 adults and a few children as participants, plus two GYO staff members

4. Workshops should be designed as hands-on and activity oriented. We follow a format:

Introductions around the room (10 minutes)

Explanation of photography permission (optional), liability permission, and evaluation forms (5 minutes)

Discussion of the topic by the leader, (10-15 minutes) leading into action. The leader will demonstrate and allow everyone to participate individually or in family groups (60 - 75 minutes total)

A shared meal and door prize drawing (15 -30 minutes) with a chance for everyone to discuss the topic, their favorite recipes or other ideas participants might have to contribute

After the gathering: a tour of the Vermont Food Venter Center for anyone new if they want it. (if the gathering is at the VFVC)

We hope this is helpful as you prepare a plan for your workshop. If you are able to purchase the ingredients you will need to use, please save the receipts so we can reimburse you. If you are not able to purchase ingredients, please give us a week’s notice and we will do the purchasing. We will provide the shared meal. Let us know what equipment you will need (bowls, stove top, garden trowels, etc.) If you are available to attend a meeting of the Grow Your Own steering committee, we’d love to have you there. In the first half-hour of each meeting we debrief from our last workshop and prep for the next one, so that would be the best time to be there. If you have questions please get in touch with the Center for an Agricultural Economy Community Programs Manager Bethany M. Dunbar [email protected] or 472-5362 ext. 204; or Hardwick Area Food Pantry Executive Director Laura Wilkinson at 472-5940.

mailto:[email protected]

Grow Your Own Gathering Questionnaire

All answers are confidential. If you do not wish to answer a question, please leave it blank. Thank you!

Name:

Do you qualify for any of these services (whether or not you use them)? Circle all that apply

Food Pantry Reach up 3 Squares WIC Head Start none

What age category do you fit in?

Under 18 18-30 30-50 50-65 65+

How many people are in your household? ________________________________________

Would you come to another gathering like this? What topic would you want to do? ____________________________

How often do you eat home cooked dinner each week?

5-7 nights 3-5 nights 1-3 nights never

Do you garden? Circle all that apply

At home At community gardens Other location _____________

In raised beds In containers In full soil

Please rate the instructor/gathering on a scale of 1-5:

5. Excellent! 4. Good 3. Average 2. Needed some work 1. Not really my kind of event

Comments or Recommendations:

Grow Your Own Gathering Questionnaire

All answers are confidential. If you do not wish to answer a question, please leave it blank. Thank you!

Name:

Do you qualify for any of these services (whether or not you use them)? Circle all that apply

Food Pantry Reach up 3 Squares WIC Head Start none

What age category do you fit in?

Under 18 18-30 30-50 50-65 65+

How many people are in your household? ________________________________________

Would you come to another gathering like this? What topic would you want to do? ____________________________

How often do you eat home cooked dinner each week?

5-7 nights 3-5 nights 1-3 nights never

Do you garden? Circle all that apply

At home At community gardens Other location _____________

In raised beds In containers In full soil

Please rate the instructor/gathering on a scale of 1-5:

5. Excellent! 4. Good 3. Average 2. Needed some work 1. Not really my kind of event

Comments or Recommendations:

Questions for Grow Your Own workshop participants

Who? Who is your target audience? Who will teach? Who are you collaborators?

How? How will you get people to attend? How will the project be formatted? How

will you pay for it?

What? What do you want participants to take away from this experience? What

topics will be covered/how will you choose the topics? What materials do you need?

Where? Where will the workshop be held? Where will you get materials/supplies?

Reporter:_______________________________________________________

Grow Your Own - Vermont Foodbank...Grow Your Own The mission of Grow Your Own is to increase food...

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