After months of building, planting, and tending, Growing Hope Gardens (GHG), created and organized by Topangan Carolyn Day, enjoyed its first Community Harvest Day for the Community Corporation of Santa Monica (communitycorp.org/) and donated over 100 pounds of organic fresh vegetables.( instagram.com/p/Bvura8mHnzR/)
“We had a blast this past weekend leading a Garden Harvest Workshop with Community Corp,” Day wrote. “Our participants learned all about their onsite gardens: how to harvest and prepare the delicious, organic produce growing on their properties, identify and harvest lettuce, and make healthy salads with fellow community members. Residents harvested three different types of lettuce (kale, chard, and sorrel), cleaned and chopped veggies (with child-safe knives and cutting boards), and removed stems.”
Day and fellow GHG team member Eleu Navarro taught participants how to combine their harvests to make a delicious salad with a dressing made from balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh orange juice. The salads were served, tasted, and enjoyed in the gardens with community members.
GHG also sourced and donated 100 pounds of organic veggies to the residents: carrots, artichokes, asparagus, a variety of lettuces, leeks, celery, and chard.
Day said they just signed a contract for this year, to create and support ten Community Gardens on ten affordable housing properties for the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, and three gardens in homeless shelters in Santa Monica, Compton, and Hollywood at the old Hollywood Studio Club.
“I would love to share this with my Topanga Community and enlist them as we jump-start our local volunteer crew for Spring and Summer,” Day says.
For more information on Growing Hope Gardens:
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Community Corporation is a Santa Monica-based non-profit organization that restores, builds, and manages affordable housing for working families of modest means. By enhancing and increasing affordable housing, we improve neighborhoods, create an environment where people can thrive, and change thousands of lives. Our work contributes to the distinct character of Santa Monica, making it a more inclusive, caring, and environmentally sustainable city. In short, we advance the values that Santa Monica residents share—and enrich our community.
#organic#nonprofit #gardens#regenerativeagriculture#environment #growinghopegardens