Plano Community GardenPlano Provides

Tajana Mesic2009 Assistant Chair of the Project

Plano Community Garden

Plano Community Garden’s Mission

• To collaborate with community volunteers to donate harvested produce to local food pantries, to provide community service opportunities, and to educate the community on horticultural stewardship and sustainable practices.

• It promotes volunteerism and provides education for preschoolers through adults.

• The educational outreach focuses on organic gardening and water conservation.

History

• A joint venture initiated in 2005 by Junior League of Plano, City of Plano, and volunteer gardeners, the Plano Community Garden’s mission is to “collaborate with community volunteers to donate harvested produce to local food pantries".

Gardening for the young and the young-at-heart Scouts: Be prepared to pitch in Breaking bread and building community

Giving back to the Plano community

• Many food pantry clients must rely on canned or dried goods for their nutritional needs.

• The Plano Community Garden provides local, organically grown produce as a seasonal supplement to client diets.

• Access to fresh produce helps to increase overall health while reducing healthcare costs associated with diet-related deficiencies.

Teaching Garden

• The garden operates as a teaching facility to address environmental concerns. Volunteers learn about improving soil fertility through composting, water conservation, and recycling.

• By encouraging “green gardening” practices like rainwater harvesting and integrated pest management, they have re-established a natural wildlife area on an empty acreage previously used for parking heavy equipment and vehicles

Cross-Cultural and Inter-GenerationalConnections

• The garden also provides cross-cultural and inter-generational connections by engaging volunteers from different backgrounds and cultures.

• By working together to care for the garden, youth, teens and adults have built a service-oriented community where building life-skills and personal relationships are key.

Garden Now

Garden Maintenance

• Gardeners and community volunteers meet once per month for a 3-hour Saturday workday to work in the garden and do any necessary garden maintenance (weeding, mulching, repairs, general garden maintenance).

• Mostly up to 50 volunteers from community organizations including Junior League of Plano.

JLP Participates in the Workday

Harvest

• In 2009, the PCG harvested 2,339 pounds of fresh organic produce, donating most of the produce to the Plano Food Pantry.

• Harvest included lettuce, onions, chard, mustard greens, green beans, spinach, Swiss chard, tomatoes, leeks, radishes, potatoes, squash, cucumbers.

Collaborative Effort

• The Junior League and the City of Plano promote the garden on their websites.

• Plano Community Gardeners manage a Yahoo! Group to communicate, store information and share pictures.

• Progress is discussed during monthly workdays and bimonthly community meetings.

• The City of Plano includes information about the garden in their Live Green in Plano newsletter and monthly reports on community volunteerism.

Community Outreach

• To promote the garden and to encourage community involvement, the Junior League of Plano organizes two events each year - Pictures in the Wildflowers in April and Pictures in the Pumpkin Patch in October.

• These afternoons of kid-friendly activities provide Plano families the opportunity to learn about the garden and to reconnect with nature.

Questions?