The Dirt

By Molly Costigan
AmeriCorps VISTA - Community Health Organizer

Sustainable Food Center partners with Marathon Kids to engage with parents, staff, and community members at partner elementary schools and facilitate the formation of wellness teams that participate in health and wellness activities. Wellness teams reach out to SFC for resources and programs, such as healthy cooking classes or school garden trainings. Leaders on the wellness team organize regular meetings and activities, and engage the school community in health and wellness issues.

Norman Elementary parent leader Philimena Dickson, has been involved with Cultivating Healthy Communities for almost three years. Through the wellness team, she has attended SFC’s The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® cooking class, Basic Organic Gardening class, and School Garden Leadership Training, and she and her family have helped with the installation and maintenance of a community garden at nearby St. James Episcopal church. She also participates in SFC’s Spread the Harvest program for her own family’s garden.

Why did you get involved with Sustainable Food Center and Marathon Kids?
It was definitely the gardening. We had a garden at our home, and I like gardening and knowing that you get fresh food from the garden and can feed your family well.

It is a struggle because sometimes you have sweets and the sweets are not good for you. Or you want to have something quick so you do not have to cook. But once you decide to train yourself you can see what you need to have energy all day.

What are some of your favorite things to grow?
Kale and tomatoes. I have tomatoes right now, at least three of them, that are ready to go into the ground. I will have to try again with carrots. If I have the right type of lettuce, like romaine, then I grow it too. We have cabbage now, and that is a favorite, and onions are pretty good. I would like to grow red onions.

What are some things that you have done here at the school or the church garden?
I am on the wellness team and get information out to the community and the parents. I am talking to more parents about what we do on the wellness team and what we are here to do for the community.

What are some of the things that you have learned as a wellness team leader?
I have learned more about how to communicate with people. If I learn here, I learn in my personal life, like how to keep the information that I have going and then pass it on or keep it on paper—and also trying to put it into the computer. I am starting to use the computer to keep up with names of wellness team members. It is a learning process and I am learning how to be an organizer. When I started I did not know how; I was shaking in my boots!

Why is this important to you?
Because I see how it helps my family, and we all have a healthier diet now.

Overview

Sustainable Food Center (SFC) cultivates a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. SFC’s Grow Local program offers the resources and education to enable children and adults in Central Texas to develop skills in organic food production, as well as an understanding of the importance of local food production for the health and well-being of themselves, their families and community, and the environment. We are looking for a dynamic, English-Spanish bilingual, organized individual to coordinate Grow Local’s classes and trainings, manage the Citizen Gardener program, and provide support to new and existing community gardens.

Position Description

The Education & Community Garden Coordinator AmeriCorps*VISTA will oversee administration of Grow Local’s organic food gardening classes and garden leadership trainings, including the Citizen Gardener education and volunteering program. The VISTA will also share responsibility for coordinating SFC’s fiscal sponsorship of community gardens and offering support to new and existing community gardens in the Austin area. Additionally, the VISTA will help enhance and expand Grow Local’s class and outreach materials to make them more culturally relevant and appropriate for recent-immigrant and/or low-income Austin residents.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate scheduling and logistics for Basic Organic Gardening, Citizen Gardener, and specialized topic gardening classes and for School and Community Garden Leadership trainings
• Coordinate Basic Organic Gardening and Citizen Gardener teacher trainings
• Oversee and track Citizen Gardener volunteer hours
• Administrate Citizen Gardener Facebook page and newsletter
• Assist with planning and logistics of Citizen Gardener graduation events
• Conduct outreach, material preparation, and follow-up for all Grow Local classes
• Assist with enhancement and expansion of Grow Local class and outreach materials to improve cultural relevance and appropriateness for recent-immigrant and/or low-income Austin residents
• >Revise and update class materials in English and Spanish as needed
• Create and distribute Grow Local Gardening Information email
• Manage SFC community garden sponsorship
• Assist with development and implementation of expanded assistance protocol for community gardens

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Arts or Sciences or appropriate experience
• MUST be bilingual (English/Spanish). Excellent written and oral communication skills in both languages.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team>
• Strong time management and organizational skills with ability to manage multiple projects
• Strong fiscal management skills
• Computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office (proficiency in Adobe InDesign & web application is a plus)
• Knowledge and experience with food gardening, farm-to-school, and healthy cooking preferred
• Ability to work a flexible schedule
• Reliable transportation
• Dedicated team-player who is culturally sensitive
• Dynamic personality with good sense of humor and appreciation for healthy, local food.

Compensation: Sustainable Food Center is an equal opportunity employer; women and people of color are encouraged to apply. This is a full-time (40 hours per week), one-year position. Serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member, you are eligible for the following: living allowance of $11,136 per year, health insurance, childcare assistance, professional development opportunities, student loan deferment, assistance with relocation costs, and, upon completion of the program, a choice of a $5,550 education award or a $1,500 cash stipend.

To Apply:

Apply through AmeriCorps website: https://my.americorps.gov/ AND

Email resume, cover letter, three references, and a Spanish/English writing sample (1 page) to Sari Albornoz, Grow Local Director at sari AT sustainablefoodcenter DOT org.

No phone calls, por favor.

Applications accepted until May 20, 2013. Position begins August 13, 2013.

To learn more about Sustainable Food Center, go to: www.sustainablefoodcenter.org. To learn more about VISTA, go to http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp

Grow Local hosted a very festive spring Spread the Harvest resource give-away day on Tuesday, March 26th, where home, school, and community gardeners picked up seeds, seedlings, and compost to help grow their gardens. Organics by Gosh generously provided the top-notch organic compost, and the beautiful veggie and herb seedlings were expertly grown by Gabriel Valley Farms. Through Spread the Harvest, gardeners can receive resources for growing their own fresh, healthy food, and they’re also encouraged to share their extra produce with friends, family, neighbors, and food pantries. Grow Local also debuted our new SFC Garden signs at the give-away!

We’re thrilled to offer these bright, colorful signs to all home, school, and community gardens that we partner with in Austin – contact us or stop by to pick up yours today! We encourage you to post a picture of your sign (see below) to Twitter mentioning @SFClocal and using #growlocal or on Facebook tagging SFC - thanks for helping to spread the word!

Citizen Gardener provides a framework for receiving 10 hours of introductory gardening instruction, completing 10 hours of service apprenticing with a more seasoned gardener, and becoming an official Citizen Gardener.

We are profiling one of our newest Citizen Gardener instructors, Wendy Leiva, who debuted in the Citizen Gardener program Citizen Gardener 34 with Dick Pierce.She is also a graduate of the Austin Permaculture Guild’s Permaculture Design course and lives in Round Rock with her family.

How did you hear about Citizen Gardener?

I was looking at a lot of local food organizations and got connected to SFC on Facebook. I was interested in the class because I was about to take the Permaculture Design Course and I wanted to revist introductory level gardening before going in to intensive permaculture. I had gardened on and off before my kids were born, but then after I had my kids and life happened. I fell into that trap of thinking I didn’t have time for gardening. Taking Citizen Gardener reminded me it’s not really that much work, the little bit of work [you put in] yields so much happiness and satisfaction. I was reminded how much I missed gardening.

What did you take away the most from Citizen Gardener?

 The class exceeded my expectations. I thought the class would be just sort of…a list of all the plants you should have in your garden. I was surprised that Citizen Gardener showed me the skills for how to build my garden… I went home so excited and started working on my box but in the first class session I had worked on site preparation so while I really knew how to do that part, I hadn’t learned the details of building the box. I ended up with a wonky box that I ended up rebuilding after the 2^nd Saturday session. Still, I realized how quickly it can be done, easily, and cheaply!

What has teaching been like for you?

Admittedly, I was a little scared because I’d never taught a gardening course before. But, after working with Anne Woods (a fellow Citizen Gardener teacher), I realized I could do it and I could do it well! The experience of teaching was wonderful. We had students from Round Rock, Pflugerville, and North Austin and it was great to connect with people right outside of Austin who are also interested in this movement. I look forward to doing it again!

How has Citizen Gardener influenced your relationship with food?

Citizen Gardener has inspired me to eat more local food and more fruits and vegetables. And it has inspired me to want to grow my own food… which is a big deal because I grew up thinking food is something you buy from a package in a grocery store and now I try to buy local and unpackaged. With two kids I don’t always uphold to [buying local and unpackaged] everyday, but I try. My goal for my home garden is to make it a family space full of edible food! My daughter is only two years old but loves to be outside [in the garden], and my son is ten years old and loves to water the plants.

What are your future projects?

I’m inspired by the work going on in Austin and I feel a little sad that the ‘burbs’ (suburbs) don’t have the awesome resources that Austin does. Round Rock isn’t listed by the US Census as a food desert, but I think there must be underserved areas that lack access to local food. We don’t have much public transportation and we have mostly huge, scattered mega-HEBs. I want to see what I can do to help ignite passion for local food in Round Rock. I’m working on building relationships in the areas north of Austin, starting with places like Monument Café and Jack Allen’s Kitchen.

 Interested in networking with Wendy? Email her at wendy.p.leiva@gmail.com

 Stay tuned for upcoming fall 2013 Citizen Gardener classes, with locations north of Austin by joining the Grow Local monthly- newsletter or checking our events page.

Co-written by Jonathan Wagner, Grace River, Roger Duck and Grow Local

 We have a variety of stories to showcase what happens when you mix a group of aspiring gardeners and two great teachers in a community garden.

Jonathan Wagner showed up on January 12th with 29 other classmates to a drizzling, gray morning at New Day Community Garden expecting to "knock off one of my biggest New Year's resolutions: start a garden...". He was on track for getting involved in the Austin gardening and local food movement, graduating from the Austin Permaculture Guild Design class in December of 2011, but the Citizen Gardener course proved a much different experience, with a hands-on focus from the start!

 After learning how to site and prepare an area for a garden, constructing a raised bed, AND building a compost pile on day 1, Jonathan recounted "Who knew it was really this easy? Especially with 20+ [people] lending a hand. The moral: Friends = cheap labor".

 
Jonathan Wagner's notes with illustrations for building a raised bed and hoop house.

Indeed, one of the goals of the class is to provide the tools to make gardening manageable, do-able, and fun for everyone. But when planning for the class, there are aspects we at SFC cannot deliberately design, aspects that make each class unique. SFC brings together the class curriculum, the teachers, and the student, and the mix is there for the creation of relationships and community.

Grace Rivera’s experience highlights the essence of Citizen Gardener. She joined the Citizen Gardener 37 class eager to “Harvest NOW!” a catchphrase she’d been considering proposing for the gardening movement. As she planted seeds and transplants, her haste for a final end product was replaced with mindfulness for the process of gardening itself.

“Something about working with the soil and the seeds slowed me down and it felt great! I took notice of the seasons and more importantly, I talked with the people who were helping me learn. That’s when I realized I wanted to harvest something more. I wanted to harvest the intangible...”

 She even spent her first weekend after the class creating her own beds, advising her fellow students via the Citizen Gardener facebook group to “start small first”. Grace also began her community service component soon after her Citizen Gardener class ended, spending  a Saturday morning with Green Corn Project, an SFC community partner, learning to germinate seeds.

 Her enthusiasm is contagious when you hear her speak about her experience: “I am a few volunteer hours closer to getting my Citizen Gardener certificate from the Sustainable Food Center and what I got out of it was way more than I put in! Not only did I learn about planting, nurturing, and transplanting seeds and seedlings, I also found whole other group of wonderful people making their world a better place through community service”.

 Jonathan Wagner and a fellow classmate, Roger Duck, as a result of the Citizen Gardener class, obtained a plot at New Day Community Garden. Introduced to this new community, they also eagerly began their community service projects at this site.

 Jonathan‘s goals are to, “with the help of a colleague, Roger”, utilize “the knowledge learned to relocate and redesign the existing compost facility...”.  He and Roger plan to develop signage for the compost that will be “designed for all ages to take part in the physical act and (equally as important) the educational aspects of the composting process as a whole. Our goal is to have the signage explain the process in a beautiful, yet coherently simple way where there is room for fun; to ensure the success of the facility.”

 Roger Duck reflects on this newfound opportunity, “I didn’t just get a plot to garden at with New Day Community Garden, I gained a community of friends...” and “I feel I have a place to contribute, and have a community that is supportive of me. The volunteer hours enabled me to plant people and community seeds, and that resulting growth of friendships, has been a New Day for me.”

 Encouraged by Dick Pierce, Jenni Lafferty, and the SFC team, Jonathan urges everyone to “Get out and get involved in your community. There are great folks out there just waiting to meet YOU and get inspired BY YOU. Don’t delay”.

 Jonathan Wagner's reflections.

 True to the point, while the Citizen Gardener class teaches you the practical skills of gardening, do not be surprised if you find also inspiration from others and yourself in the new adventures that becoming a Citizen Gardener brings forth.

To register for Citizen Gardener, click here.

To learn more about New Day Community Garden, visit their site. 

Most of you already know that SFC is in the midst of building a brand new training center, but did you know that the center will include 2.3 acres dedicated to a teaching garden and a neighbor-driven community garden, too?

The JP’s Peace, Love and Happiness Foundation Teaching Garden will showcase a plethora of sustainable gardening methods appropriate for our Central Texas climate, and will provide our very own site for hosting Basic Organic Gardening and Citizen Gardener classes, as well as workshops about specialized topics like vermicomposting, beekeeping, and container gardening. Extra-fresh herbs and veggies from this garden will be chopped up and enjoyed just yards away at The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® cooking classes.

The St. David’s Foundation Community Garden, located alongside the Teaching Garden, will be a 50+ plot community garden organized and maintained by people who live, work, or worship in the neighborhoods surrounding SFC’s new Center. With support from SFC, a group of neighborhood leaders who call themselves the Germinators has already been hard at work planning garden, and much of the basic infrastructure of the garden has been installed.

Intrigued? Now is the time for friends of SFC like you to get involved and help us bring these gardens to fruition! SFC and the Germinators will be hosting volunteer workdays about once per month starting in January to keep the weeds under control, plant cover crops, and mix in compost to prepare the soil for planting. We’ll need plenty of people power to transform these spaces into the vibrant, bustling gardens they will eventually become, and we’d be honored to have your help!

If you would like to be notified when we schedule SFC New Site Garden Work Days, or to learn more, contact Sari Albornoz at sari@sustainablefoodcenter.org. Can’t wait to see you at the garden!

Did you know that SFC’s Grow Local program has provided assistance to more than 130 school gardens in the Austin area? These gardens can be found at public schools and private schools, from preschools to high schools and every level in between. Some school gardens are incorporated into classroom lessons or afterschool clubs, others are used to produce food for the cafeteria, farmers’ markets, or food pantries, and still others serve as places for parents and community members to grow healthy food for their families. What these school gardens all have in common is that they serve as places for children (and adults!) to learn about where food comes from, how it is grown, and how delicious and fun eating fresh fruits and vegetables can be!

The assistance that SFC provides to school gardens includes our free School Garden Leadership trainings, Spread the Harvest resources, in-class and afterschool lessons & activities, School Garden Volunteer matching, consultation, grant assistance, and more. SFC’s recent School Garden Leadership training at Mendez Middle School successfully inspired and empowered dozens of leaders to start and expand garden projects at their schools, and we look forward to providing continuing support to these endeavors. Check SFC’s Events page for our next School Garden Leadership training in early 2013. You can find more information about how SFC promotes school gardening success in Austin here: http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/grow-local/school-gardens

If you know of any school garden projects that aren’t yet connected with SFC, we’d love to hear from them! Please contact Jess Guffey, Grow Local Co-Director, at jess (at) sustainablefoodcenter (dot) org, to find out how we can offer assistance.

We’ve had a terrific season of Citizen Gardener classes this fall! Citizen Gardener participants learned how to start their own food gardens while helping to establish or enhance gardens at Gateway Church, UT Elementary, Alamo Community Garden, and East Communities YMCA. Participants learned to build their own raised garden bed, a rainwater catchment system, and a successful compost pile, along with a wealth of other gardening wisdom. Participants will now share their knowledge with the community by volunteering 10 hours at partner gardens and farms throughout the community.

Interested in becoming a Citizen Gardener? Stay in touch to register for spring classes via our events page and our Facebook group! We are also looking for eager gardeners with experience to join us as Citizen Gardener teachers. Contact Vanessa Toro at vanessa@sustainablefoodcenter.org for more information.

Excited about the upcoming fall planting season, and the bounty of broccoli, kale, and beets you’ll be harvesting just a couple of months away?

Join SFC’s Spread the Harvest program and share your garden’s abundance with neighbors in need!

Many of you may already know that Spread the Harvest is the gardening and food-sharing program through which SFC provides free seeds, seedlings, and compost to low-income gardeners to empower more Central Texans to grow, eat, and share our own fresh, nutritious produce. What many folks may not know is that this program also strives to help all gardeners share your harvest with food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, and other facilities that help children and adults find a meal when they are facing tough times. Because these facilities are often short on fresh produce, your home-grown fruits and vegetables are much-needed and always appreciated. As a member of Spread the Harvest, you’re welcome to collect gardening resources if you need them, or to simply join forces in the effort to share our harvest with those in need.

When you join Spread the Harvest, we’ll send you a packet of information that includes a list of all the food pantries in Travis County that accept donations of fresh produce, along with instructions for dropping donations off at each facility (we’ll also send a packet full of information about how to grow your own food organically in our Central Texan climate). Grow Local is especially interested in encouraging school and community garden groups to participate, so please help us spread the word! To learn more and download an application, click here. Let’s show that home, school, and community gardeners can make a huge difference for Central Texans in need!

Here’s a story from a Spread the Harvest gardener:

I don't know if you guys get to see the results of what Spread the Harvest allows families to do in their home gardens. I know you would be able to see all of the community spaces, but this program has done amazing things for our family. We have improved our diet by eating more organic produce than we could afford and we've decreased our grocery bill!

Better nutrition and spending less at the grocery store are great, but I really like that we are able to donate to the homeless soup kitchen downtown. I always take my children with me to harvest the food from the garden, pack it up in the mini-van and then drive it downtown to drop off. They get to see the whole process and our hope is that they learn compassion and generosity. STH has enabled us to be generous and to teach our children to do the same!