Growing More than Vegetables

This past summer, our campus garden reached a whole new level after moving to a new location!

In its former location, the garden had no running water. Staff and youth hauled barrels of water daily and relied on a pump to keep the plants alive, yet it still produced fresh vegetables for more than four years.

This summer, everything changed. Together, we built a brand-new garden near our new building with 10 raised beds, complete with easier access to water. Then came the best part: youth from our campus programs got to shop for seeds and plants, choosing exactly what they wanted to grow.

Their selections filled the garden with more than 50 plants total including: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, corn, beans, and even brussels sprouts. Youth helped transplant each plant and learned how to care for them throughout the season. Watching their pride as the garden flourished was incredible. Cucumbers quickly became a favorite snack, and some adventurous youth even tried zucchini bread and fried zucchini made by staff.

The garden is an incredible resource to have on campus as it teaches the youth about where our food comes from, while also creating a safe space outside of the homes for the youth to get away for a bit and connect with nature!

These special opportunities are only possible with the help of our generous community. Many thanks to Amway for financial support in constructing the new garden, as well as the helping hands of our maintenance team and volunteers from HexArmor.

We are excited to see how the garden continues to grow, season after season.