Programs

Early Childhood Gardens

The Early Childhood Gardens project gives low-income preschoolers access to fresh, organic produce and the opportunity to learn about plants, life, and health in an outdoor organic garden.
By offering young children the chance to plant seeds, learn about the garden from their elders, watch their crops grow, harvest them directly from their play-place, and put that freshest possible fruits and vegetable directly into their mouths, a lasting connection is made between the source of food, healthy eating habits, positive community role models, and a love and wonder for the earth. This personal, participatory experience will have a positive affect on the nutritional choices made by these children over time, making a lasting impact on their health and quality of life.

In 2010, Mesa Verde Gardens built its first Early Childhood Garden at Martinelli Head Start, at a barn-raising style event.  More than 50 people—babies, toddlers, preschoolers, older siblings, parents, grandmas, teachers, and community members—joined together to create a beautiful organic garden for the children of Martinelli.  In one morning we:

• built three raised beds and planted them with peas, beans, spinach, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, radishes, kale, onions, cucumbers, zucchini and chard
• erected a trellis
• installed an automatic drip irrigation system
• planted grapes and artichokes along the front fence
• planted sunflowers along the back fence
• dug and planted a corn and potato patch
• shared a celebratory meal

Based on the success of this first project, in 2011 Mesa Verde Gardens joined with nine more preschool communities to create on-site edible gardens. At each, Mesa Verde Gardens supplied all materials and staff support, joining with families and preschool staff to build, fill, and plant the gardens together.
Each Early Childhood Garden receives ongoing garden support from our part-time Garden Educator, Scott Ferreter.  These bi-monthly fun, age-appropriate, child-centered activities cover such topics as:

• Garden observation
• Hands-on gardening activities
• Care of the natural environment
• Development of connection between healthy food and healthy bodies
• Cognitive and physical exposure to edible parts of plants
• Where plants get their energy and how we get energy from plants
  

Each visit ends with the eager eating of a plant featured in that day's activity.

Community Gardens


In 2011 Mesa Verde Gardens, with generous support from the larger community, started our first Community Garden on a ¼ acre parcel leased at All Saints Episcopal Church.  We began with community outreach to low-income families, then brought interested people together to determine as a community how we wanted this start-up garden to look, function, and be managed.  These meetings led to incredibly productive work days when all participants joined in to build fences, lay irrigation pipe, and delineate beds.  By mid-April, we had 15 committed families; by the end of that month we were full at 30 families and had a waiting list.  Beyond the 30 family plots measuring 15´x 12´, there were two large corn patches for use by all gardeners as well as a common area complete with picnic tables, barbecues, and a children’s play area.  

Each family paid $5/month for the use of an individual garden plot on which to grow fruits and vegetables of their own choosing and culture.

Following on the successes of this first community garden, in 2012 we are tripling in size, with three separate sites serving a total of ninety low-income families, all on land leased from Watsonville churches.  These are:

• 54 plots at All Saints Episcopal Church; 437 Rogers Avenue
• 21 plots at First United Methodist Church; 229 Stanford Street
• 12 plots at Lutheran Community Church; 95 Alta Vista Avenue

This year, each of the three Community Gardens will be self-governing, with information shared via monthly meetings.  Each garden will be overseen by a Garden Coordinator, chosen from among the Community Garden members.  Meetings will be conducted in Spanish, with English translation as needed. 

Demonstration Garden
Mesa Verde Gardens has a 1/8 acre Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Garden, adjacent to the Community Garden at All Saints Episcopal Church.  In 2011, all produce was donated to Loaves and Fishes food pantry.  In 2012, we are growing crops specifically requested by Loaves and Fishes staff for use in their daily lunch program.

 

The success of our Community Garden start-up project was remarkable.  Fifty percent of the gardeners completed the post-survey, with the following results:

• 85% of gardeners reported that their families ate more vegetables during the time they were gardening than before
• 85% of those in outcome 1 reported eating significantly more vegetables than previously
• 62% of gardeners reported harvesting from their plots 2-3 times per week, with 31% harvesting weekly
• 92% of gardeners reported a significant drop in the amount of money they spent on vegetables for their family
• 100% of gardeners reported an increase in their knowledge of how to maintain a garden and grow vegetables
• 92% of gardeners reported an increase in knowledge regarding the connection between the daily consumption of vegetables and the health of their family
• 85% of gardeners stated that they wish to continue with their garden at MCCG next year