Grow Food, Grow Hope

100 Mile Food Challenge

2012-02-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

Students, click the image below to fill out the 100 Mile Challenge Survey!

On February 10th students from Denver Elementary, Holmes Elementary and East End Elementary, as well as home schooled students, attended a Lincoln Day Celebration hosted by Wilmington College and the Meriam Hare Quaker Heritage Center. Grow Food, Grow Hope was on hand too, reading stories and talking about the kinds of food our Nation’s 16th president might have eaten. An emphasis was placed on foods that would have been found within 100 miles of the White House in the mid 1800’s.

We wanted students to get a first-hand idea of what it was like to only eat locally produced food, so, inspired by the book, "The 100 Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating" by Alisa Smith and JB MacKinnon, as well as our own love of eating local, Grow Food, Grow Hope invited students to take part in a 100 Mile Challenge of their own. We asked students to make a meal or a snack with ingredients from within 100 miles of Wilmington and then report back to us in a survey to tell us how it went. With any luck, they will come to realize what eating locally really means and will learn to make more sustainable food choices in the future.

Apply Now For Your Plot in the Community Garden

2012-02-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again when we invite residents of Clinton County to apply for a plot in the Friends of Hope Community Garden. Applications are due by March 15th, 2012

We have 40 spaces available and all plots are FREE!

Click to Download an Application

If you have questions, please send an email to Bernadette Gallagher, an AmeriCorps VISTA with Grow Food, Grow Hope or call (937) 382-6661 ext. 693

Thanks For A Great MLK Day!

2012-01-19T13:22:00.001-08:00

On Monday of this week, we had a great turnout for our MLK Day of Service. 70 students and a dozen team leaders, as well as 6 AmeriCorps VISTA's from GFGH took part in the challenge, serving a combined 520 hours at local non-profits.

We have about 100 photos posted on our Facebook page if you want to check them out and we'll try to have a slideshow up soon as well.

Many thanks go out to our sponsors; the Corporation for National & Community Service, and Wisconsin Campus Compact, for providing us with a grant to fund the day's activities; Wilmington College for giving us a space to host our event, vehicles for volunteers to get to their sites, and for the staff and faculty who volunteered as team leaders; and to Chipotle of Jeffersonville, for feeding our volunteers lunch. It was delicious!

Following our Day of Service, we kicked off a canned food drive in the local community, which will end on Friday, January 20th. The proceeds from this drive will go to the local food pantries and shelters.

January/February Newsletter

2012-01-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter.

In this double issue, you can read about how GFGH made Martin Luther King, Jr. Day into a "Day On" instead of a "Day Off" with the MLK Day Collegiate Challenge on January 16th. You can read our review of "The Bountiful Container", find out about upcoming Read & Seed Events, and try out a new recipe. We also have our Volunteer Spotlight as usual and we've introduced a new feature called the Harvest Calendar, which will help gardeners to plan out their growing season with useful tips and reminders.

January/February 2012

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

If you have comments or suggestions, please let us know.Thanks!

MLK Day Collegiate Challenge

2012-01-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 16th, 2012 WILL BE A DAY ON - NOT A DAY OFF!

We currently have 85 participants signed up to take part in the MLK Day Collegiate Challenge at Wilmington College. This is a dedicated group, choosing to make the National Holiday into a “day on” instead of a “day off”. Students, College faculty and staff, and VISTAs from Grow Food, Grow Hope will take part in the day of service, volunteering at six local non-profits. Teams will have just three hours to complete their projects and a budget of around $100 a piece. Funding for the day of service comes to us from a grant from Wisconsin Campus Compact and the Center for National & Community Service.

The day of service which has an Olympic theme will kick off at 9:30am in the McCoy Room in Kelley Center on the Wilmington College Campus. Volunteers will be fed a light breakfast provided by Sodexo and at 11:00, teams will head out to their respective service sites to begin their work.

Teams will do such tasks as; painting, cleaning and organizing, and light repairs. When volunteers have completed their challenge, serving for a total of 255 combined hours, they will return to the college where a free lunch from Chipotle of Jeffersonville will be waiting for them. During the meal, teams will be asked to reflect on their service experiences.

Later in the evening, Wilmington College is hosting MLK Convocation Celebration and will kick off the start of a 5 day canned food drive which will end on Friday, January 20th. For information on where to donate, please contact Meghan Otto.

Host Sites Needed for MLK Day Challenge

2011-12-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

On Monday, January 16th the VISTAs at Grow Food, Grow Hope will make the National Holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. a 'Day On' instead of a 'Day Off'. We will join with student and community volunteers to celebrate the memory of Dr. King through service projects in our local area.

The MLK Day Challenge consists of one day of intense service, whereby volunteer teams will go out into the community to tackle service projects for local non-profits. This is service that will have a lasting impact on the community and it will challenge volunteers to use their problem-solving and communication skills to complete the job in just a few short hours.

We are currently seeking host sites for these service projects. If you are a non-profit in the Wilmington area and have a project that you have wanted to do, but just haven’t had the time or means to do it, then this is the perfect opportunity for you. We are seeking projects that have a definite start and finish to them and can be completed in about 3 hours by 5-10 capable workers who will have a budget of close to $100. Examples of projects may include painting a mural, cleaning a space, demolition, cooking a meal, refurbishing, outdoor maintenance, creating care packages or anything else your organization may need.

Projects will be completed on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Monday, January 16^th, 2012 from 11:00am-2:00pm. If you are interested in participating as a host site for the MLK Day Challenge, please complete an application and return it to:

Center for Service and Civic Engagement
Wilmington College
1870 Quaker Way Box #1145
Wilmington, Ohio 45177

Or you can also fax it to (937)383-8560 Attn: Amy Volz

Applications must be received by Wednesday January, 4^th 2012. We will be choosing 5 locations to host a project, organizations will be notified by Friday, January 6, 2012. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact Grow, Food Grow Hope at the information listed below. For more information on the MLK Day Challenge, please visit www.MLKDay.gov.

Hope Sprouting in New Places

2011-12-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

As the recession lingers and the unemployment rate hovers near the double digits in most states, the need for food is as great as ever. The need for community is perhaps just as great. Word of what we started here in Wilmington has spread to other towns and today word spread back to us in the form of a letter telling of the birth of a new community garden in Fairfax, Virginia.

Here is that letter. It was sent originally to Randy Sarvis, the Public Relations Director at our host site, Wilmington College by a WC Alumni and a member of the WC President's Advisory Board:

Randy,

Hey, you might want to share a Grow Food, Grow Hope extension story at Christ United Methodist Church here in Virginia with the Grow Food, Grow Hope folks in Ohio. The Grow Food, Grow Hope folks in Ohio were instrumental in guiding us so a big thanks to them, Wilmington College and the Agriculture Department.

It's finally a reality with two Eagle Scouts leading our youth group in a "pilot" construction project this November to get 4 growing plots installed at our Church. Planting will begin early this Spring and harvest in the Fall. The produce will go to the local food banks in connection with our sister Church, Rising Hope along Route 1 here in VA is the plan.

The Hope is for us to learn, grow and transfer our learning to the recently acquired 25 acre campus to be built out in the coming years after we sell our existing Church Campus.

Anybody want to buy 5 pristine acres in Northern Virginia (suburb of Washington, DC) close to your congressmen and congresswoman? Just kidding!!

A few pictures attached. Be well!

Bill Shugarts

We are honored that we can be such an inspiration to others, for others have certainly been an inspiration to us. We wish everyone in Virginia the best of luck with the new garden and we'll be looking forward to more pictures in the spring!

December Newsletter

2011-12-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter.

In this issue, you can read an editorial from Sara Colegate, one of our Friends of Hope Community Garden Mentors. You can also check out the first volunteer spotlight of what will surely be many to come. There is an excellent Nutella hot cocoa recipe. And to wrap it all up, a recap of some food-focused seminars attended by the staff at GFGH.

December 2011

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

If you have comments or suggestions, please let us know.Thanks!

November Read & Seed

2011-11-15T08:05:00.000-08:00

Bring the kids for our November Read & Seed Session

Saturday, November 19th

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

at the Center for Service and Civic Engagement

on the Wilmington College Campus

We will be reading a Thanksgiving book

to the kids and creating windowsill herb

gardens and fall leaf place mats.

Please contact Amy Volz if you have questions.

937-382-6661 ext. 596 or send an email to

amy_volz@wilmington.edu

This is a free event open to all members of the community.

Turkey Workshop

2011-11-08T10:53:00.001-08:00

Monday, November 21st

at Sugartree Ministries @ 1:30 PM

Do you know how to safely prepare a turkey for your Thanksgiving feast?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year 1 out of 6 Americans (48 million people) will get sick from food borne pathogens.

Help your family avoid getting sick this year by coming to our FREE workshop.

Wilmington College faculty member, Gloria Flaherty, will be on hand to teach a safe and easy way to prepare a turkey.

Reservations are strongly encouraged.

Please contact Betsie Sweet at

937-382-6661 ext. 693 or send an email to

betsie_sweet@wilmington.edu

November Newsletter

2011-11-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter.
In this issue, you can read about the new hoop house that GFGH and the Clinton County Youth Council are partnering up to construct. You can also read an editorial by Project Manager, Meghan Otto on the history of home gardening - specifically the trend of planting a Victory Garden during WWII. We have included four recipes for you to try out this Thanksgiving and if you are thinking of buying a local turkey this year, we've highlighteda few pointers in the article "A Season to Feast".
November 2011

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

If you have comments or suggestions, please let us know.Thanks!

Thanks for a GREAT Pumpkin Run 5K!

2011-10-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

The Pumpkin Run was a major success! We had a turnout of over 50 people this past Saturday which was more than we had ever hoped to achieve, this being the first year for the event. The sky was clear. The sun was bright. The weather was nearly perfect, though it was a little chilly; The night before, we saw our first frost of the season.

Runners began showing up at 8 a.m. and the race began at 9:30 to the sound of an air horn. The route traveled through residential streets around the college and then onto the nearby bike path. The final leg of the route brought runners through the rows of raised beds at the community garden, where a spread of homemade pumpkin themed snacks were waiting for them, including homemade pumpkin pie made by National Pie Championship winner, Jennifer Nystrom. The first runner to cross the finish line was Aaron Schuschu, a Wilmington College student and former Grow Food, Grow Hope Summer Associate VISTA.

Parents who brought small children were able to leave them at the new Mobile Garden Unit where they could do garden themed arts and crafts. All participants went home with a pumpkin, provided by Branstrator Farms, as well as a recipe for making pumpkin pie. 25 lucky participants also received a gift certificate to use at Chipotle in Jeffersonville, which generously provided food for the volunteers following the event.

See the finishing times by clicking the image below.

Got questions about the Pumpkin Run?

Send an email to Sarah Bachman or Amy Volz .

October 2011 Newsletter

2011-10-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter.October 2011

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

Pumpkin Run 5K

2011-09-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Help Grow Food, Grow Hope raise money for our community gardens! The Pumpkin Run/Walk will be the first of hopefully many fall 5Ks hosted by GFGH, but we would like to invite you to be a part of making the first one a success.

The run/walk will begin at the Friends of Hope Community Garden at Wilmington College. Sign-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the run/walk will begin at 9:30. Participants of all ages are welcome to attend.

Children 2 to 12 can hang out (supervised) at the mobile garden area while parents take part in the run/walk. There will be crafts, a puppet show, and face painting for the kids. Children 13 and older are permitted to take part in the run if they choose, provided a parent or guardian is participating with them. Dogs are also welcome to run with their owners as long as they are on a leash.

All pre-registered participants will receive a commemorative t-shirt with the Pumpkin Run logo on it and all participants will leave with a free pumpkin or a voucher to use at a local pumpkin farm, just in time for carving and holiday baking.

This is not a costumed event, but participants are welcome to dress up for the run/walk. The three best costumes will be featured in the November GFGH Newsletter and here on the website.

There will be lots of fall-themed snacks available before and after the event as well as bottled water and cider.

The pre-registration cost is $20 per person and $15 for students 13 and older.

On the day of even the price is $25 per person and $20 for students 13 and older.

Download and Print your Registration Form

Got Questions?

Send an email to Sarah Bachman or Amy Volz .

Farm to Table

2011-09-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Annual Farm to Table Dinner will be on Thursday, September 22nd this year at the Fife Farm on the Wilmington College Campus. Appetizers will be served at 5:30 followed by dinner at 6:00. Dinner will be a buffet style BBQ made from local ingredients followed by a silent auction, the proceeds from which will go to Grow Food, Grow Hope.

Reservations are required and space is limited.

All seats are $25 per person and can be purchased from Grow Food, Grow Hope or the Advancement Office at Wilmington College.

For more info, please call Bev Carpenter at the Advancement Office.

937-382-6661 ext. 273

or send an email to Meghan Otto.

Some of the donations for the silent auction include the following items from the these generous community partners:

2 tickets to Mat Kearney in Columbus ~ 2 Tickets to the Renaissance Festival ~ 4 passes for Bonnybrook Farms ~ An Original Painting by David Kline ~ Cooking Class for 4 people from Sodexo ~Golf Lesson from Sharon Sims ~ 3 Self Defense Lessons from Black Belt, Marta Wilkinson ~ Quilt Square made by Judith Kessler Smith ~ 2 tickets to The Murphy Theatre Christmas Show ~ A photo session with Rachel King

There are also items from:

Cassano’s Pizza

Vaughn’s Auto Service

The Mediterranean Restaurant

Clinton County Visitors Bureau

Joe's Java

South Street Coffee House

Clinton County Visitors Bureau>

Buckley Brothers

Cool J's Salon

Wilmington College Bookstore

Books ‘n’ More

Jen's Deli

and many more

September 2011 Newsletter

2011-09-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter.September 2011

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

National Day of Service and Remembrance

2011-08-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

On September 11th, 2001, our country experienced a great loss. We were not defeated though. If anything, we were made stronger. Many of us can remember how unified we felt as a country in the days and weeks that followed, and now, ten years later, it is our hope that by holding a day of service on the anniversary of that tragic day, we will revive that unity through volunteering our time in the service of those who have so valiantly served our country.

September 11^th is now a National Day of Service and Remembrance. As part of President Obama’s call to service, we at Grow Food, Grow Hope would like to give local veterans and their families our thanks. With the help of volunteers from the community, we will be putting together fresh produce and baked goods baskets for veterans.

Community members are encouraged to take part in the Day of Service. The event begins at 1 p.m. on September 11^that the Center for Service and Civic Engagement. We will be picking vegetables and putting together baskets which we will then deliver to local veterans. We are also hoping to lend a hand at the homes of veterans by doing some light yard work, including weeding, hedge trimming and raking. If you are unable to help on the day of the event, but would still like to be involved, we are also asking for donations of baskets and baked goods – (cookies, brownies, jams or jellies, and breads). All homemade foods need to be made fresh the day before the event. Volunteers will be available to come to your home on the day of to pick them up, or the items can be dropped off at the CSCE on the 11^th by 1 p.m.

In addition to the fresh food items, we would like to include words of thanks from k-12 students and members of the community. If you are interested in writing a thank you note to a service man or woman, all letters need to be received by Friday, September 9^th. They can be dropped off in person at the CSCE on the Wilmington College Campus or sent to:

Grow Food, Grow Hope
1145 Pyle Center
1870 Quaker Way
Wilmington, OH 45177

Click here if you would like to know more about the National Day of Service.

If you have questions about the Grow Food, grow Hope Day of Service or would like to sign up, please contact Sarah Bachman, an AmeriCorps VISTA with Grow Food, Grow Hope at (937)382-6661 ext. 693

3rd Annual Tour de Farm

2011-08-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Annual Tour de Farm is fast approaching! It will be held on September 24th. We are now accepting registration forms. This years route will take riders to the Clinton County Farmers' Market and at least three area farms. Participants must supply their own bicycles and we ask that all riders wear a helmet.
The ride will start and end at the Friends of Hope Community Gardens on the campus of Wilmington College. Sign-in begins at 8:30am and the ride begins at 9:00. It will go until the route is complete. The cost for pre-registered riders is $20 for adults and $10 for Wilmington College students. On the day of the event, adults pay $25 and students pay $15. In addition to the discount, pre-registered riders will receive a commemorative t-shirt, so sign up early!
All proceeds from the event will benefit Grow Food, Grow Hope.
Click below to view a PDF file of the Registration Form for Tour de Farm. Print out your form and mail it in to the address on the sheet or bring it by to the Center for Service and Civic Engagement on the Wilmington College Campus before September 18th for pre-registered status. You may also bring it with you on the day of the event with the registration fee.

Canning and Preserving Workshop

2011-08-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Grow Food, Grow Hope and the Clinton County Homemakers Association will be hosting a FREE canning and preserving workshop for all interested parties at 7 pm on Wednesday, August 31st.

We invite you to join us for this informative workshop session at 7 pm in the Sugartree Ministries kitchen. GFGH and CCHA will demonstrate the steps for processing and canning tomatoes. All materials will be provided. Space is limited so we ask that you RSVP by August 26th. Please call or email Betsie Sweet.

Betsie Sweet

Grow Food, Grow Hope

AmeriCorps VISTA

betsie_sweet@wilmington.edu

937-382-6661 ext. 693

The Most Notable Armenian in Wilmington: A Cucumber

2011-08-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

It is not often that we come across a mystery vegetable here at Grow Food, Grow Hope. Actually, it’s never happened. We pride ourselves on being well versed in the many varietals of edible plants. Even if there is a vegetable or fruit that we have not tried ourselves, through our collective knowledge, we can at least look at something and identify it. This was not the case yesterday though, when two VISTAs returned from a harvest with a handful of… well, we weren’t sure what.

Questions abounded as to what it could be. The possibilities ranged from deformed squash to space food. We quickly decided it was not space food but we were no closer to an answer. Someone suggested that it may be an English Cucumber. But we Googled ‘english cucumber’ and saw that no English Cucumber in the history of English Cucumbers had ever looked like the strange vegetable we had picked.

The pale green vegetable had come from the home of Ian

Ziegler who had donated a parcel of his land to GFGH, the produce from which is donated to local food pantries. It had been about two weeks since anyone had been there to check on the progress of his garden and this mysterious vegetable had not fully developed at the time. There was some speculation that it was a deformed fluke, but every cucumber-like thing growing around it looked the same and the vines and flowers that surrounded it looked like cucumber or some other member of the squash family. What’s more, we were pretty sure we had planted cucumbers when we broke ground in May. This long, pale green fruit that had developed was like no other cucumber we had seen though.

We searched other terms hoping to find a name for it. We finally tried the search term ‘pale

green cucumber’ and discovered that it was called an Armenian Cucumber. Upon further investigation though, we learned that it was a cucumber in outward appearance only. It is

actually classified as a melon and has a sweeter taste than a cucumber and smaller seeds. It is not generally regarded as being good for pickling, but it is apparently good in sushi and on cucumber sandwiches. It has a thin outer skin and is often curved.

Armenian Cucumbers can get up to 24 inches long, but they are best enjoyed at about 15 inches. The ones we picked were between 15 and 20 inches, so they were ripe for the picking. The only question now was, ‘are they any good?’ They looked just exotic enough that we were concerned people would be unwilling to try them. We needed to have a taste test.

Someone quickly located a cutting board and a knife and the

oddity was rinsed. We then headed outdoors and conducted our slicing ceremony. Within seconds, the Armenian Cucumber was deemed a hit! It was sweet and smooth tasting and had a good density- not too wet, not mushy. It was just right. If you get a chance to try one for yourself, don’t pass it up. As for the crew at GFGH, we’re spreading the word about this amazing fruit. We want everyone to experience it, so we are headed out to the Ziegler farm in the coming days to pick some more, which will be donated along with the first bunch to pantries in the area.

Saturday Mornings at the Garden

2011-08-15T08:53:00.001-07:00

The Friends of Hope Community Garden had it's last mentor session of the 2011 season on August 30th. We went out with a little celebration and a sampling of some tasty foods made with ingredients from the garden. Community Garden participants and mentors received certificates of participation and we watched a short slideshow of pictures taken throughout the growing season. We had a great time with all the families who took part and we hope to see all of you back next year!

Getting to Know the New VISTA's

2011-08-12T10:36:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to sit down on a quiet day at the office and get all of you blog readers up to speed. Today is finally that day. As you may already know, Grow Food, Grow Hope is an ever-changing entity with a rotating staff of AmeriCorps VISTA's and a near daily influx of community and student volunteers. We are always working on a new project; this week, we are getting cool weather crops in the ground and planning for various fall events (I'll have a list of dates and times in the September Newsletter).

It can be hard to keep up with us- even if you work here. As readers, you may find that you don't really know us as people, but more as an entity; However, Grow Food, Grow Hope is made up of a diverse mix of employees, volunteers,and community members with a passion for helping others. I am one such individual and I feel that the time has come for an introduction.

My name is Sarah Bachman. I am from Dayton, Ohio originally but these days, I find that home is wherever the people I love are. I have degrees in sociology and film & video production. I consider myself an environmentalist, an animal lover and an optimist. I am one of those rotating VISTA staffers I mentioned earlier. I came to Grow Food, Grow Hope on June 27th, 2011 and I will be here for a total of 365 days. I am paid through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. My position is that of Public Relations Coordinator. If you check this website regularly, read our newsletter, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, there is a good chance you are seeing something that I personally had a hand in. As part of my position, I am also responsible for helping to maintain our community garden plots, expanding our Grow-A-Row program, planning events and writing grant proposals. Needless to say, I keep busy.

I have a lot of help though. I am one of six VISTA's in the Grow Food, Grow Hope office. Most of us are new to the organization but since starting, we have formed a close-knit team. It came easy to us, mainly because we all want the same thing; We want to help people. We want to see people thriving in their daily lives. We want to see happy, healthy families. We want to educate people, to give them a leg up, and to fight the dastardly beast known as Poverty. We believe we can do it too.

This is my second stint as a VISTA; Last year while I was completing my bachelors degree at Shawnee State University, I served with another garden initiative called The Portsmouth Pantry Garden. I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided I would try to pursue another service term upon graduation. I applied to about a dozen other non-profits and knew when I found GFGH that I needn't look further. Food is a necessity but access to healthy food is something that can make the difference between merely surviving from day to day and thriving. According to the US Department of Agriculture in 2010, about 17.4 million households in America had difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of resources. Working at GFGH, I feel that I am able to tackle this problem with full force. I can interact directly with the population that needs me and it feels GREAT!

I have 349 days left with Grow Food, Grow Hope. I don't know what the coming year holds for me and I have no idea where I'll end up when it's over, but I know I will go forth with an experience that will have changed my life.

If you have ideas for how I can help the community of Wilmington while I am here, or if you yourself could use a bit of help from GFGH, please send me an email. If you have suggestions, praise or criticism, don't hesitate to comment here on the blog or on our Facebook or Twitter feed. Also, check back in the coming weeks for intros from all the other VISTA staffers at GFGH.

August 2011 Newsletter

2011-08-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, August 2011.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here. And if you would like to get the Grow Food, Grow Hope Newsletter in you inbox, it's easy! Just click to sign up!

July 2011 Newsletter

2011-07-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

Click to sign up!

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, Summer 2011.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here.

Junior Master Gardener Camp 2011

2011-07-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of summer is camp! It's fun for kids and parents alike, not to mention the camp counselors who get to be kids themselves for a couple of days. On July 18^th 2011 Grow Food, Grow Hope began the first day of our five-day Junior Master Gardener Day Camp for kids aged six to twelve. This was the second year for Junior Master Gardener (JMG) Day Camp, and we had 73 registered campers. This was more than triple the amount of campers from last year!

Activities at camp were both fun and educational and focused on science, crafts, nutrition and outdoor activities (the giant parachute and the water slide were favorites). Campers were divided into one of five vegetable-themed groups: Awesome Asparagus, Brave Beets, Creative Cucumbers, Outrageous Okra and Zany Zucchini.

Campers learned about such topics as metamorphosis, photosynthesis, recycling, identifying different fruits and vegetables, soil composition, bugs and how they eat, and making new friends. They were taught fun dances, encouraged to try new foods, and each day they went home with a new craft to show their parents.

Temperatures last week were in the upper 90's so on Thursday, the water slides and sprinklers came out. There was a giant blow up water slide, a pool, and a slip 'n' slide. There were also some water sports for campers to take part in. Camp counselors even got caught up in the fun as campers took turns dumping water buckets on them and smearing whipped cream pies on their faces during the end of week awards presentation. Camp ended on Friday with a graduation ceremony for campers that included each group singing their favorite songs for the parents and demonstrating their group’s original chant followed by a photo slide show depicting what the children did at camp.

Camp was free for all participants, however parents were encouraged to make donations if they were able to. All monies raised went to fund camp supplies. Camp counselors and organizers were Grow Food Grow Hope VISTA Volunteers and VISTA Summer Associates.

2011-07-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Every week the summer associates and VISTAS of Grow Food Grow Hope partake in an "in-service training activity." These various activities help us become a stronger team and teach us communication skills to help us in the future. This week, as a collective, we watched the documentary Urban Roots. Back yard gardening has become a growing trend in the Detroit, Michigan area. This is due to the fact that many of the large factory jobs that once provided employment for the city, have left. Urban Roots discuss how the citizens of Detroit have taken the initiative to start gardening and share their gardening knowledge with their neighbors around them.

Once we finished watching this film, we were able to find many similarities between the movement happening in Detroit and the goal of Grow Food Grow Hope. The main goal being that we are trying to help members of our community provide their own means of accessing fresh and healthy food. This is a really great documentary to watch and learn more about the importance of fresh food and how much we all are benefiting from gardening.

Youth Summer Camps in July

2011-05-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

All spots have been FILLED for Grow Food, Grow Hope's Junior Master Gardener Camp!

Junior Master Gardener Camp will be July 18-22nd for ages 6-12 and Seed, Seed, Sprout Day camp will be July 6-8th and is meant for ages 3-5. Both camps focus on gardening, nutrition and trying new foods. Participants in both camps will have the chance to take part in "kids in the kitchen" cooking projects and "water" days as part of their camp experiences.

Grow Food, Grow Hope is very excited to facilitate these camps and hopes to make them even better than last year with new activities and experiments. So your child will have new experiences if he or she is attended for the first time or for the second time!

Check out what we did at camp last year!

To register your child for camp please download a registration form for Seed, Seed Sprout here and for Junior Master Gardener here. These forms can be returned to Grow Food, Grow Hope at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at Wilmington College.

If you have questions about camp please contact our camp coordinator, Jennifer Kerschner at 937-382-6661 ext 596.

Fresh Food Access

2011-05-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define a food desert as "areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet." A food desert exists when people live long distances from a supermarket or large grocery store and do not have easy or affordable access to transportation. While food deserts are not typically of large concern in rural areas such as Wilmington, where farm stands and local produce are readily available, looking at a map will show you that, while we may not have a food desert, fresh food access is far from abundant in Clinton County.

The above map of Wilmington, OH shows five commercial locations where fresh produce can be purchased: Sack n Save, Old Farm Market, Kroger, Aldi, and Wal-Mart. A half-mile circle has been shaded green around each location to show the availability of walking to each establishment. Please notice the number of Wilmington city neighborhoods which are not included in these circles.

The same map now also includes the Clinton County Farmers' Market with its different winter and summer locations. While the Farmers' Market does not operate daily like the other establishments, it greatly increases the number of Wilmington residents who can walk to purchase fresh produce throughout the year. Through a partnership with Grow Food, Grow Hope, the Clinton County Farmers' Market is also introducing an EBT program, which will allow the market to accept food assistance benefits like cash. This program will begin at their first summer market on June 4th. Accepting food assistance benefits, formerly known as food stamps, will allow a greater number of low-income patrons to come to the market and purchase fresh, local, and affordable foods.

Through Grow Food, Grow Hope's continuing efforts to teach people to garden, we hope that this map may soon become obselete so that everyone will have equal access to fresh produce whether it is through a garden or from a local grower or grocer.

Container Gardening

2011-05-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

At Grow Food, Grow Hope we have found ourselves in a container gardening experiment. And it has been a HUGE success!

Our friends at McCarty Gardens were kind enough to donate apprxomately $400 worth of vegetable plugs to Grow Food, Grow Hope to place in our various gardens throughout Clinton County. For those of you who may not know, a vegetable plug is a seedling that is started in a very small cell, approximately 1/2 inch across and 1 inch deep, and when we received them they were ready to be replanted.

Since we did not have a supply of traditional pots, we took whatever we had on hand, some potting soil, and planted in recycled objects. Our supply of plastic cups and empty tin cans soon held tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and various other vegetables.

Items pulled from the recycling bin have all become refuge to homeless seedlings including deli containers, crystal light packages, two liter soda and Hawaiian punch bottles.

A recycling bin finds new use with a group of seedlings.

Not only did we have a fun time experimenting with container gardening, it has also been highly successful! Several weeks in the containers and as you can see the seedlings are growing despite their seemingly odd habitats and are ready to plant!

So as you can see, when it comes to container gardening the sky is the limit! Plants can truly grow in any container provided they receive enough light, water, and nutrients from the soil in which they are planted. Seedlings can grow in much smaller containers than larger plants so be sure to have larger containers for full grown vegetable plants such as tomatoes and peppers.

Want more advice about container gardening? Contact us with any questions at growfoodgrowhope@gmail.com or by phone at 937-382-6661 ext 321.

Now in Bloom: Spring Newsletter

2011-05-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Click to sign up!

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, Spring 2011.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here.

Grant makes GYSD project possible.

2011-04-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Grow Food, Grow Hope was granted a 2011 Sodexo Youth Grant from Youth Service America!

Grow Food, Grow Hope is very excited to be chosen as one of the recipients of a 2011 Sodexo Youth Grant from Youth Service America. This mini-grant from Youth Service America will be used to bring new kid-friendly garden supplies, kitchen utensils, aprons, and science investigator tools for events at our “Friends of Hope” Community Garden starting with our Global Youth Service Day Event which occurred on April 16th and continuing at garden sessions throughout the growing season!

The first portion of this mini-grant was used for our Global Youth Service Day Project on Saturday to enhance the children's garden at the "Friends Of Hope" Community Garden on Wilmington College's campus. Participants met in the Pyle Center lobby at 1pm to take part in the day's project. Using recycled containers as molds, they created new mosaic stepping stones out of cement to replace the wooden stepping stones in the garden. Also during their afternoon on-campus, the participants received a lesson on the importance of gardening and eating fresh food. They had the opportunity to take part in a kid-friendly "Kids in the Kitchen" cooking demonstration where they made and tasted a stir-fried cabbage dish.

After this initial event, the stepping stones, garden tools, kitchen equipment, and other materials will be used weekly at the "Friends of Hope" Community Garden sessions. Each week's lesson will meet State of Ohio academic content standards to ensure children are learning information they can take both to their homes and to their school. Lessons will not only be about gardening, but also have components of literacy, science, and social studies to ensure a well-rounded garden experience.

We want to once again thank Youth Service America for awarding Grow Food, Grow Hope this mini-grant and thank all the youth who participated in our Global Youth Service Day event on Saturday, April 16th. Want to see how it went? Check out our Facebook Album!

Family Fun Health & Fitness Night Honored

2011-03-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Grow Food, Grow Hope and the Wilmington College Health & Wellness Committee are very proud of the successful Family Fun Health & Fitness Night which was honored by the Clinton County Family & Children First Council with the “Steppin’ Up Award.”

Children made "Egg Head" snacks out of healthy ingredients

The Clinton County Family & Children First Council works in collaboration with other organizations “to provide quality support services for the well-being of children and families.” Grow Food, Grow Hope plans to continue hosting community events that encourage children and families to maintain their own health and wellness through gardening and healthy eating and to continue to support the mission of the CCFCFC.

Children were invited to plant seeds to take home and grow.

Family Fun Health & Fitness Night included a myriad of activities from face painting and parachute play to “Fun with Food” and seed planting activities. Each station provided attendees an activity or learning experience including the “Sugar Factory” where participants learned about the sugar content in their food choices and soccer lessons by Wilmington College Soccer Coach, Bud Lewis.

Children ran fun soccer drills with the assistance
of Bud Lewis, Wilmington College Soccer Coach.

Participants took part in the "Sugar Factory"

Grow Food, Grow Hope plans to continue to encourage healthy eating and wellness during National Nutrition Month with a Read & Seed about container gardening this Saturday at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at Wilmington College beginning at 11am. We hope to see you there!

CONGRATULATIONS!

2011-03-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our 2011 Non-Perishable Food Item Queen, Joni Streber!

Our 2011 Non-Perishable Food Item Queen

The Potato Princess, now Queen, won in a tight race with daily donations of non-perishable food items and great answers to tough questions during the Non-Perishable Food Item Pageant on March 3rd. Our 1st Runner-up, Fruit Cocktail Princess and Wilmington College Student Kali Wilt as well as 2nd Runner-up, Peas & Carrots Princess, Professor Mary Rose Zink, were both honored before the winner was crowned.

Our 1st Runner-Up thanks the crowd.

But that does not lessen the efforts of our seven other contestants, judges, MC, and volunteers who helped collect over 800 food items to be donated to Sugartree Ministries and the Clinton County Homeless Shelter while still making this event fun for everyone.

We would like to thank the following people again for taking part in this event:

Our Contestants:

Kali Wilt-Fruit Cocktail Princess

Isaac Garrison-Mac & Cheese Prince

Sigrid Solomon-Soup Princess
Brooke Ac

htermann-Bean Princess

Kyle Maust-Tomato Prince
Scott Johnson-Chili Prince
Mary Rose Zink-Peas & Carrots Princess
Quatez Scott-Tuna Prince
Joni Streber-Potato Princess & 2011 NPFI Queen
Megan McDonough-Peaches, Pears & Pineapple Princess

Our Judges:

Sonja Koehler-2009 NPFI Queen & AmeriCorps Leadership Corps Member at the Quaker Heritage Center

Denise Stryker-Executive Director of the Clinton County Homeless Shelter

Allen Willoughby-Director of Sugartree Ministries

Our Pageant Team:

MC-Ken Lydy

Assistant and 2010 NPFI Queen-Michelle Kerschner

Escorts-Jamie Evans & Kaity Best

Our "Accounting Firm" & Ticket takers-Tara Lydy, Lindsay Lydy, & Mariah Fulton

Stage Crew-Jenn Kerschner, Dessie Buchanan, & our Wilmington College Student Activities Monitors: Charles Ingram & Miles Bankston

2nd Annual Non-Perishable Food Item Pageant

2011-02-28T06:45:00.000-08:00

Grow Food, Grow Hope is happy to announce their 2nd Annual Non-Perishable Food Item Pageant to take place March 3rd at 9:09pm in the Top of Pyle.

The NPFI Pageant is a food drive with a royal twist: non-perishable food items are counted as votes for the nominee of your choice. This year's nominees are:

Kali Wilt-Fruit Cocktail Princess
Isaac Garrison-Mac & Cheese Prince
Sigrid Solomon-Soup Princess
Brooke Achtermann-Bean Princess
Kyle Maust-Tomato Prince
Scott Johnson-Chili Prince
Mary Rose Zink-Peas & Carrots Princess
Quatez Scott-Tuna Prince
Joni Streber-Potato Princess
Megan McDonough-Peaches, Pears & Pineapple Princess

To vote for your favorite nominee, simply drop off the non-perishable food item they represent in the barrel in Pyle Center or at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement. The nominee with the most non-perishable food items donated will be crowned our next NPFI King or Queen during the pageant on March 3rd.

If you have questions, please contact Grow Food, Grow Hope at 937-382-6661 ext 306.

Good luck to our nominees and don't forget to donate!

SOCHE Talks Feature GFGH

2011-02-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

A special thanks to Chris Burns-Dibiasio, Wilmington College's Director of Community Relations, who discussed Grow Food, Grow Hope on Southwest Ohio's Council on Higher Education. The SOCHE Talks program is designed to enlighten the world with knowledge from primarily institutions of higher education in southwest Ohio. Inspired by the TED Talks, each episode is approximately 10 to 15 minutes in length on a unique topic that reflects the wealth and diversity of knowledge emanating from the region's numerous colleges and universities.

To view Chris Burns-Dibiasio's SOCHE Talk please see the SOCHE TV website or listen on SOCHE Talk's partner 91.3 WYSO radio.

To view more videos about Grow Food, Grow Hope see our comprehensive list in our News Archive.

January/February Newsletter Now Available!

2011-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Click to sign up!

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, our January/February 2011.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here.

Fresh Network Continues

2011-02-02T13:01:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, January 27^th, over sixty local food producers, grocers, business owners, chefs, academics, and concerned consumers gathered as the united “Clinton County Fresh Network” to discuss the future of our local food economy.

Established in 2009, the Fresh Network aims to create a viable and sustainable local food system with direct links between local farmers, food sellers, and consumers. In its first full year of existence, the Fresh Network focused on making these vital connections and sharing local product information on their website – www.ccfreshnetwork.com. As the Network moves forward, we need to collectively develop tangible strategies – a roadmap – that will bring our vision of a strong and sustainable local food economy into action.

At the January 27^th meeting, Fresh Network participants began the groundwork for this roadmap by discussing three initial questions: how do we create a viable and sustainable local food economy, how do we make small farms successful, and how do we increase market access for local food producers in southwest Ohio.

The unique perspectives shared in this discussion are essential to the Fresh Network, as every idea can help form the direction and necessary steps towards developing a strong local food economy. A report on the ideas that arose from this meeting is being compiled and will be shared with the public on the Fresh Network website. This report will also determine the topic of the next Fresh Network meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, February 23^rd, in the Mason Center in Kettering Hall at Wilmington College. The meeting will run from 6:30 – 8:00 pm and is open to the public (RSVP preferred).

For questions, more information, or to become involved with the Clinton County Fresh Network, please contact Dessie Buchanan at 937-382-6661 x 488 or dessie@clintoncountyfarmersmarket.com. The Fresh Network is a collaborative effort of the Clinton County Commissioners, Wilmington College, Grow Food Grow Hope, the OSU Extension Services of Clinton County, the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT), and the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission.

To read more about February's first meeting please see the Wilmington News Journal's article "Planning the future of local food."

For more of Grow Food, Grow Hope "In the News" please see our News Archive.

Healthy Food Does Not Have to Be Elusive

2011-01-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

We are proud to be noted in the E-Environmental Magazine's January/February 2011 article "The Growing Fresh Food Movement: Farm-to-School Programs, Community Gardens and Teaching Farms."

While reading the article one particular phrase struck us as pertinent to our current work, "Even as school districts try to integrate farm-to-school meal programs, healthy food options at home can remain elusive for families. That’s why a growing number of community gardens and farms have sprouted, such as Wilmington College’s Grow Food, Grow Hope project in Ohio."

And that is why we want to remind you to apply for a 2011 Community or Backyard Garden Plot. Taking part in a garden plot either at the Wilmington College Friend's of Hope Community Gardens or by working with Grow Food, Grow Hope to build a garden in your own backyard will make fresh food easily accessible to your family throughout the growing season. Not only will this provide you fresh food for the season but you will also be left with gardening lessons that will allow you to continue growing your own food in the future.

If you want to keep healthy food from being elusive this growing season please download our Community and Backyard Garden application and return it to the Center for Service & Civic Engagement by March 1st. If you have other questions about Community and Backyard Garden Programs please contact Bernadette Gallagher at 937-382-6661 ext 693.

Fore more of Grow Food, Grow Hope "In the News" please see our News Archive.

Happy New Year from Grow Food, Grow Hope

2011-01-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

We hope that everyone had a safe and fun holiday. During this time of holiday festivities, Grow Food, Grow Hope worked with two Wilmington College Greek organizations: Sigma Zeta and Alpha Phi Kappa to begin the first ever Feed A Family Fund at Wilmington College.

We are amazed at the generosity of our Wilmington College Faculty and Staff, as well as community members who donated to the cause and made it possible for us to purchase food for 10 Christmas boxes for Clinton County families.

Children of Feed A Family recipients with their boxes.

Christmas essentials such as a ham, pumpkin pie ingredients, and fresh potatoes from the Clinton County Farmers' Market as well as supplies that can be used into the new year such as flour, sugar and salt were provided to the families for a total of over 30 pounds of food per family, delivered by Grow Food, Grow Hope's team of VISTA volunteers and Sigma Zeta fraternity members.

We would again like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who donated to the Feed A Family Fund, the Greeks who came to us to work collaboratively, and the entire Clinton County Community who has made it possible for us to increase fresh food access and alleviate poverty in the community.

Now that the New Year has commenced, we are excited to be able to offer even more in 2011!

Garden Applications are now available for anyone who is interested in applying for a space in our Friends of Hope Community Garden on Wilmington College's campus or those who would like to apply for a Backyard Garden at their own home. Participants will have a garden bed and will be taught how to garden by mentors, many of whom are local Master Gardeners, and Grow Food, Grow Hope VISTAs with weekly meetings from May through August. The Community garden program is free for participants however, a $25 donation is asked for the Backyard Garden program, to offset the cost of lumber and supplies (limited sponsorships are available). We welcome all to apply with preference given to families who can benefit the most by learning to garden and supplementing their grocery bill by growing their own food. If you would like to download a garden application for yourself or to share with a friend or neighbor, please click here. Applications are due March 1st. For more information about garden applications or our community garden plots please contact Angie Lauver at alauver@wilmington.edu or at 937-382-6661 ext 596. For questions about the Backyard Gardens please contact Kaity Best at kaity_best@wilmington.edu or at 937-382-6661 ext 693.

We would also like to invite you to this month's Winter Farmers' Market located at Swindler & Sons' Florist at 321 W Locust Street in Wilmington on Saturday, January 8th and 22nd. As always, the market provides fresh produce, baked goods, eggs, and meats, as well as candles and other craft items from a variety of local farmers and vendors. For more information about the Clinton County Farmers' Market you can check out their website by clicking here or contacting Dessie Buchanan at dessie@buylocalcc.com or at 937-382-6661 ext 488.

Finally, our last Saturday of the month Read and Seed tradition continues in January. January 29th children from ages 2-12 are invited to take part in a Read & Seed at Wilmington College's Center for Service & Civic Engagement on campus. Read & Seed focuses on literacy and education in our young ones with a story and themed activity. Check back soon for this month's theme. If you have questions about Read & Seed or would like to register your child for this event, please contact Mariah Fulton at mariah_fulton@wilmington.edu or at 937-382-6661 ext. 596.

As always feel free to contact us with questions about any of our programs. We look forward to working with you this year!

Congratulations to our stained glass raffle winner, Andrea Pletcher!

2010-12-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

(Andrea and John Schum, owner of the South St. Gallery)

Andrea is one of our talented artisans at the Clinton County Farmer’s Market and is the lucky recipient of a beautiful custom stained glass artwork made by our market sponsor, The South Street Gallery. This artwork features four brilliant Clinton County Barn Quilt patches nestled in a rustic window frame and is valued at $500.00.

Congratulations again to our winner and sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the raffle! Special thanks to John Schum of The South Street Gallery who generously created and donated this beautiful piece to the Market. For more information on the Gallery, go to http://southstreetgallery.net.

The Clinton County Winter Farmers’ Market is sponsored by the Clinton County OSU Extension Office; Grow Food, Grow Hope; and Swindler and Son’s Florists. All of the raffle ticket sales will assist with the promotion and further development of the Farmers’ Market.

Winter Wishes Newsletter now available!

2010-12-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

Click to sign up!

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, our Winter Wishes 2010.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here.

FOCUS Airs GFGH Special

2010-11-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

We would like to thank PBS and CET Cincinnati for creating and airing the newest FOCUS episode about Grow Food, Grow Hope!

Missed the episode over the weekend? Watch it here!

To find more news articles about Grow Food, Grow Hope check out our News Archive.

WCET"s 'Focus' Program to Feature 30 Minutes on Grow Food, Grow Hope

2010-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

This post courtesy of Wilmington College's News & Events page.

For more news from Wilmington College click here.

The response to PBS Television’s Our Ohio program that featured the College’s Community Gardens project was so positive that Cincinnati’s PBS station, WCET-TV, invited the College to be featured on its 30-minute community affairs program.

A trio of persons with ties to the Grow Food, Grow Hope initiative will be featured on the program Focus Thursday (Nov. 4), at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 7, at 12:30 p.m.

They are Monte Anderson, professor of agriculture; Tara Lydy, director of the Center for Service and Civic Engagement; and Randy Riley, Clinton County Commissioner.

While the segment of Our Ohio that aired in September dealt exclusively with the Community Gardens, Focus will spend its entire 30-minute program on the broader Grow Food, Grow Hope, as well as discuss it more thoroughly within the context of Clinton County’s economic challenges.

To find more news articles about Grow Food, Grow Hope check out our News Archive.

Halloween Happiness

2010-11-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came to see us as we gave away tomatoes for trick-or-treat both on and off campus! If you saw us and "Cowboy Carrot" check out the photos below!

Meeting students at WC's Goodies for Goblins

WC Staff Member at Goodies for Goblins

JFS Staff Members meet Cowboy Carrot

JFS Staff taste tomatoes

On Mulberry Street for Beggar's Night

Giving away tomatoes in Timber Glenn

Did you meet "Cowboy Carrot" but don't see your photos? Call us at 937-382-6661 ext 306 and let us know!

"A" is for Apple

2010-11-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Discussing a favorite fall crop during October's Read & Seed, the Pre-K and preschool students at Wilmington ChildCare & Learning Center learned about Johnny Appleseed and how the delicious fruit grows.

Students read the books Johnny Appleseed by Maddi Olsen and Little Mouse and the Big Red Apple by A.H. Benjamin and Gwyenth Williamson.

A WC Student volunteer reads to the Preschool class.

The students were also challenged to discuss how apples grow and created the stages of an apple tree to show that they understood the plant's lifecycle. Finally, the student's favorite part, they had the chance to make a snack and taste apples. The students made Apple Pie Dip which is simple to make and allowed the students to assist in the cooking process.

WC Student volunteer dices apples for Apple Pie Dip

Students mix the Apple Pie Dip together

Creating Apple Pie Dip

Enjoying Apple Pie Dip with Graham Crackers

Join us for next month's Read and Seed on-campus on November 20th from 10 to 11am while we talk about being thankful.

For more information about our Youth Outreach programs for those in pre-k through 3rd grade please contact Mariah Fulton at 937-382-6661 ext 596 or mariah_fulton@wilmington.edu

Make A Difference Day 2010

2010-10-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to all of our volunteers who helped out with Make A Difference Day 2010! With your help we were able to make short work of the overgrown Verizon Beds so that the beds are ready to be planted in order for more produce can be grown and distributed to Sugartree Ministries again in the spring!

Before Clearing

Volunteers at work.

Ripping out tomato plants

Clearing the mess

Ready for winter.

Thanks again to all of our volunteers! Interested in volunteering with our next project? Please contact us at growfoodgrowhope@wilmington.edu or 937-382-6661 ext. 321.

From Garbage to Garden

2010-10-21T12:53:00.001-07:00

Tuesday marked our first ever Grow Food, Grow Hope composting workshop held in Thomas Lounge at Wilmington College. Participants came from various backgrounds ready to learn new composting skills and share ideas and stories about their own composting experiences.

VISTA Angie Lauver shows the WC compost bins
before bringing the group outside to see them in person.

The evening opened with a lively discussion about composting rumors, mistakes, experiences and TV gardening shows all giving different composting advice. AmeriCorps*VISTA, Angie Lauver, presented her composting knowledge teaching participants the basics of composting: why we do it, how it works, and what to compost. Bringing the discussion outside, Lauver also presented the demonstration compost bins near the Wilmington College Community Garden plots discussing the pros and cons of each type as well as demonstrating how to build a compost bin in your own backyard from recycled pallets for almost no cost.

WC Student, Matt Higgins investigates a demonstration compost bin.

For more information about composting check out the EPA's website or read their Backyard Composting Guide.

Our Ohio: Episode 524

2010-10-20T15:44:00.001-07:00

Didn't get a chance to see the segment about Grow Food, Grow Hope on Our Ohio in September?

No problem!

We are proud to be able to show you the segment which aired on Saturday, September 18th on Dayton WPTD TV Channel 16 and on Sunday, September 19th on Cincinnati WCET TV and Dayton Think TV Channel 14.

To find more news articles about Grow Food, Grow Hope check out our News Archive.

30 Days to End Hunger

2010-10-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

After seeing the great things done throughout the country during Hunger Action Month, Grow Food Grow Hope has dedicated 30 days from October to November the 30 Days to End Hunger. We have a variety of events and volunteer opportunities for students and community members to take part in.

To see the full calendar of events click here. Or check out the highlights below.

October 23rd: Make A Difference Day-Sugartree Ministries Verizon Beds 1-3pm

Help winterize the garden beds so that they're ready for planting next spring!

October 24th-30th: Eat Local Challenge Week

Eat Local! Support the local economy and enter to win a great prize pack! You can pick-up a score card at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at Wilmington College, Swindler & Sons Florist, the Clinton County Visitors Bureau and Jen's Deli or click here to download on online. For more information please see the Buy Local WC website.

October 30th:1st Winter Farmers Market at Swindler & Sons Florist 9am-noon

Join us for the opening of our second winter market at Swindlers located at 321 W Locust Street Wilmington.

November 3rd: 30 Days: Minimum Wage video viewing and discussion

in the Wilmington College Mason Center-7pm.

The 2005 documentary series 30 Days investigates life at minimum wage.

November 12th: Wallace & Gromit Movie Night
in the Wilmington College McCoy Room 7pm

Join us for a fun night for the kids as we watch a fun movie and do activities.

November 18th: Serve dinner at the Clinton County Homeless Shelter

Give thanks to an organization that does so much for Clinton County with an early Thanksgiving celebration.

If you have questions about any of the 30 Days to End Hunger events or wish to participate please contact Jessica Braun at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at 937-382-6661 ext 306.

Making a Difference on MSNBC's Nightly News

2010-10-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

After an Associated Press article last November entitled "Hard Hit Community Learns to Grow Food" was published and shared in 2.4 million newspapers, blog posts, and television reports Grow Food Grow Hope suddenly had national attention.

This attention resulted in a call from NBC's The Today Show to film during garden season and a visit from them on July 10th. After visiting, NBC producers decided they needed just a little bit more of the story and invited Wilmington College's Director of Community Relations & Engagement, Chris Burns-Dibiasio to New York for an interview with Peter Alexander in August.

With taping and editing out of the way, we are proud to show you the completed product which was aired on Saturday, October 2nd on MSNBC's Nightly News segment: Making a Difference.

To find more news articles about Grow Food, Grow Hope check out our News Archive.

Rescued Food

2010-10-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 30th, Grow Food, Grow Hope Volunteers and Wilmington College Fraternity, Sigma Zeta, had a great time gleaning apples in New Vienna thanks to a local home owner with excess.

Sigma Zeta picking apples

Karen McKenzie of New Vienna, Ohio, partnered with Grow Food, Grow Hope. Volunteers went to the McKenzie home where they picked apples and donated them to local food pantry, Sugartree Ministries. The apples that were picked were well received by those at Sugartree Ministries who were already discussing fried apples, apple crisp, and apple pie, as well as biting into a few right from the box.

Filling the apple box.

Gleaning, a concept as old as farming itself, was considered one of the first forms of assistance to those who were struggling. In today's atmosphere of commercial farming and big business much goes to waste rather than being shared for those who have little. We would like to thank Ms. McKenzie for allowing us to "rescue" her excess and would like to ask your help to do the same.

If you have excess produce, fruit, or any other edibles that are going to waste as the season begins to change DO NOT LET IT GO TO WASTE CALL US! Grow Food, Grow Hope would like to rescue this excess and distribute it to those who do not have access to fresh and nutritious foods.

Do you have excess? More than your family can eat? Please contact Jessica Braun at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at 937-382-6661 ext 306 or via email at jessica_braun@wilmington.edu so she can organize a gleaning operation in your backyard!

Tour de Farm 2010

2010-09-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who rode in our 2nd Annual Tour de Farm on Sunday, September 26th. We had a great morning of biking through beautiful Clinton County and we had a great time stopping at all of the farms!

Our bikers ready to take-off from the WC Community Gardens.

A special thanks to Bergefurd's Farm Market, Branstrator Farms, and That Guy's Family Farm for being our three farm stops along the way. Bikers also had the opportunity to explore the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden plots on campus before taking off as well as stopping the Wilmington College Farm on Fife Avenue before continuing on to their 35 mile tour of Clinton County.

Stopping to refuel at Bergefurd's Farm Market.

En route.

Bergefurd's Farm Market

Stopping for a rest at Bergefurd's Farm Market.

A great selection of pumpkins from the Bergefurd's.

The ride continues.

Resting at Branstrator Farm.

Heading towards the last stop.

That Guy's Family Farm.

Last look before heading home.

Clinton County Fresh Network

2010-09-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

The mission of the Clinton County Fresh Network is straightforward – to strengthen the local fresh food economy in Clinton County. Working towards this mission, we aim to create a viable and sustainable local food system with direct links between local farmers and local consumers, between local production and local consumption.

In a community with such a rich agricultural heritage, we want to ensure that all citizens in Clinton County have access to nutritious, affordable, local food. At the same time, we want to provide the support that will enable local farmers to secure a living from growing and selling local, fresh food.

In the past year we have taken small strides toward our goal of a sustainable local food system. We now have a Clinton County Fresh Network website where you can view all of the information necessary to take part in this initiative; from grower profiles to participating local businesses the website is your ticket to all things Fresh Network. Click here to view the Fresh Network website and feel free to contact our AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer if you have any questions.

Dessie Buchanan
Farmers' Market & Growers' Co-op Cooridinator

Grow Food, Grow Hope

937-382-6661 ext 488

dessie@buylocalcc.com

A Full Plate

2010-09-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Here at Grow Food Grow Hope we are anxiously awaiting what delicious fresh delicacies Chef Tom Tiner and Sodexo Campus Services will create for our Second Annual Farm-to-Table Benefit Dinner. Hosted by Wilmington College on Fife Farm our event sponsor, Sodexo Campus Services, will be cooking a gourmet dinner on Friday, September 24th at 5:30pm.

We hope that you will consider attending, you can still register through September 17th. Please download a registration form below and return it to Wilmington College Advancement, Pyle Center 1307, 1870 Quaker Way, Wilmington, OH 45177. If you have questions please feel free to contact either Frank Glazer at 937-382-6661 ext 273 or Grow Food Grow Hope at 937-382-6661 ext 321.

Farm-to-Table Registration Form.

But that's not the only reason our plate is full that weekend. We have several events happening that will keep us busy from Friday to Sunday. So please check out the following events as well.

Dancing with the Stars: Barn Dance

Friday, September 24th, 2010 from 9:30pm to 11:30pm.

The Wilmington College Students, Faculty, and Staff will be celebrating the completion of a New Barn on the Fife Avenue Farm with a Barn Dance.

Beginning at 9:30pm on Friday, September 24th we will have guest instructors who will be teaching three different styles of ballroom dance. There will be two hours to learn, practice, and master the steps by 11:30pm we are looking forward to the entire campus community to be dancing under the stars!

For more information please contact us at Grow Food, Grow Hope at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at 937-382-6661 ext 488. Also, please see the event on our Facebook Page.

2nd Annual Clinton County Tour de Farm

Sunday, September 26th at 8am

Please join us for our Second Annual Tour de Farm where we will be biking through beautiful Clinton County and experiencing many of the farms that we work with on a daily basis. Registration is open to anyone with pre-registration fees at $10 for WC Students, $25 for Adults and $5 for a Kiddie's loop for the 3-10 year-old range. All proceeds benefit Grow Food, Grow Hope and all pre-registered participants will receive a free Tour de Farm t-shirt.

If you have any questions please contact Kaity Best at the Center for Service & Civic Engagement at 937-382-6661 ext 693. Click Here to Download a Registration Form and don't forget to check us our Facebook Event!

GFGH on PBS!

2010-09-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Grow Food, Grow Hope will be featured on Think TV's Our Ohio Television series!

A few weeks ago Think TV came to our Tuesday Garden Night to take video footage as part of the episode. We are really excited that they chose to feature us.

The episode will air on Saturday, September 18th at 5pm on Dayton WPTD TV Channel 16. It will also air Sunday on Cincinnati WCET TV at noon and Dayton Think TV Channel 14 at 5 p.m.

For those of you out of our area you can also check out the Our Ohio website to find out where to watch.

Summer Wrap-up 2010

2010-09-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Click to sign up!

Click below to view a copy of our most recent newsletter, our Summer Wrap-up 2010.

To find copies of our previous newsletters, please click here.

A Final Taste Test

2010-08-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, July 13^th, 2010 at Sugartree Ministries in Wilmington, Ohio the student chefs of the culinary class chopped their last vegetables, cooked their last meat dishes, and plated their last meals together as a culinary class. Of course, this will only be the start of the culinary careers for each of the students and they will quite possibly cook many future meals together as friends and colleagues rather than students in the same class. The eight student chefs involved with the culinary class include: Ashlie Cundiff, John Porter, Charlene McCoppin, Mike Rickman, Michelle Addison, David Hawthorne, Jessica Morris, and Chris Green from Sodexo.

Students final creations.

For their final test of skill and mastery of their lessons, Chef Tom Tiner, chef of Sodexo of Wilmington College, prepared a mystery basket for each student. The goal of the students was to then prepare two identical plates of food using each ingredient in the mystery basket as well as any ingredients from the pantry that Chef Tom provided for them. The mystery baskets included a meat of either: salmon or beef, a starch or either: potato, sweet potato, rice, or cornmeal, a fruit of either: papaya or mango, and two vegetables of either: carrot, zucchini, acorn squash or poblano pepper. Some baskets included an additional ingredient of rice paper wrappers just to throw the chefs for a loop. The pantry was stocked with various seasoning and sauces as well as couscous, another type of rice, and soba noodles, a Japanese noodle. The chefs were then allowed to trade a like item from their basket such as a vegetable for a vegetable or a starch for a starch, but the chefs had to keep their meat. They could also swap like items in the pantry or use additional ingredients from the pantry. The students each had three hours to cook and to plate. The food was then critiqued by Chef Tom and Robbie Ross of Sodexo. The food was then shared among the student chefs and guests of the class. Finally, the chefs cleaned up the kitchen.

Student Mike Rickman prepares his final dish.

Once the chefs started cooking their meals, it was clear that very few of the eight student chefs knew what they were going to prepare, but there was no time to lose. The chefs began preparation right away and developed their meals as they worked. The meals ranged from a home-style pot roast to salmon sushi. The creativity and skills of the students were clearly represented in each of their dishes.

Culinary Student, Ashlie Cundiff, prepares her salmon sushi rolls.

Upon sampling the food Chef Tom and Robbie had many things to say about the food. Overall, Chef Tom complimented everyone’s dishes, “excellent job everybody.” Ross thought the “meat on [Charlene’s plate] is very well-cooked.” Chef Tom, “love[d] colors” of Jessica’s dish. He thought that the puree [was] awesome. Nothing exciting about the potatoes,” and he “absolutely love [mango salsa].” Ross felt that Chris’s dish was “very nice. Creative. Don’t get much heat from chipotle. [Vegetables] could use a little bite to it.” Except for a few minor suggestions from the critics, the food received rave reviews from all those that sampled it.

Chef Tom Tiner and Guest judge, Robbie Ross judge the student's work.

After the food was shared about the students and those present, Chef Tom and Janet Renshaw, the general manager of Sodexo, provided each student with a toolbox filled with culinary tools including: knives, vegetable peelers, and measuring cups among other things. The students will be able to use these items as they start their culinary careers.

Students say thanks for their new toolboxes.

The culinary class would like to share a special thanks to: Chef Tom Tiner, Janet Renshaw, and Robbie Ross from Sodexo, Allen Willoughby and all those at Sugartree Ministries who allowed the chefs-in-training to use the kitchen, the Cincinnati Art Institute, Weather Vane Dry Cleaners, Wilmington College’s Grow Food Grow Hope VISTAs and Summer Associates who assisted week-to-week, Ace Hardware for the generous gift of toolboxes upon graduation, their friends and family, and anyone else who have donated time, money, or items to make the culinary class possible.

As they start their culinary journey, at least two of the chefs have budding plans to open their own restaurants and many of the students have similar plans. Whatever path the chefs may find themselves on later in life, it can be certain that they will always have food close to their hearts…and in their stomachs.

To see what their families had to say about the class check out this video by our own Summer Associate Volunteer, Ryan Shunk.

For more photos about the Culinary Job Training Class please see our album on Facebook. For questions or if you're interested in learning more about the class and its future please contact Jessica Braun at Grow Food Grow Hope ext 306.

You're Invited!

2010-08-16T15:25:00.001-07:00

Grow Food Grow Hope would like to invite you to our Second Annual Farm-to-Table Benefit Dinner on Friday, September 24th beginning at 5:30pm at Wilmington College Farm. This event is sponsored by Sodexo Campus Services and hosted by Wilmington College. If you are interested in attending please download a registration form below and return it to Wilmington College Advancement, Pyle Center 1307, 1870 Quaker Way, Wilmington, OH 45177. If you have questions please feel free to contact either Frank Glazer at 937-382-6661 ext 273 or Grow Food Grow Hope at 937-382-6661 ext 321.

Farm-to-Table Registration Form.

Junior Master Gardeners Learn to Grow

2010-07-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last week (July 26-30) we held our first ever Junior Master Gardener camp for kids between the ages of 7 and 12. There was a chance of thunderstorms everyday but that did not stop us from having fun at the camp. There was a total of 20 kids split into 3 groups known as the Rockin' Radishes, Super Squash, and Cool Carrots.

The groups had some friendly competition throughout the week working together as teams. Throughout the camp they learned about the importance bugs have in the garden, teamwork, the different soil types, performing in front of others, food safety, nutrition, and that food products can be used for much more than just eating.

In addition, the kids learned about what Grow Food Grow Hope is and how it exists to help those in need, and the importance of gardening as a whole.

By the end of the week, there were 20 Junior Master Gardener Graduates complete with caps and an award ceremony. Below are the group pictures from the graduation ceremony:

Rockin' Radishes

Super Squash

Cool Carrots

Last Summer Meeting at the Community Gardens

2010-07-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last night at our weekly community garden night, our garden families gathered together for one last time. With the last vegetables of the gardens ripening, this was the last formal meeting of our garden families. The families are still welcome to come back at any time to continue maintaining and harvesting their gardens.

The Wilmington Fire Department was gracious enough to lend one of their ladder trucks which allowed for aerial pictures from 150 feet above the gardens.

Instead of a cooking demonstration, there was a smorgasbord of samples which included favorites from other weeks such as lemon sage dip, cucumber dip, garden fresh salsa, blueberry zucchini bread, green tomato cake, and more.

The night ended with a short slide-show of pictures from over the summer and a presentation of awards to the families and mentors involved in the program.

Thanks to everyone involved, including the Wilmington Fire Department, with the Community Gardens for making it a great summer!

This amazing picture was taken by Randy Sarvis

Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden

2010-07-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

* Community Garden sessions will happen rain or shine *

Located on the Wilmington College campus, the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden is a 40-plot vegetable and herb garden maintained by low-to-moderate income families and individuals in our community. The plots are provided completely FREE of cost to the families and gardeners, and 100% of the resources, tools and education materials are covered by the college, grants, and donors to our program.

With the mindset that food security and healthy eating habits are often disconnected, the community garden aims to offset most of the costs associated with a nutritious and balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and herbs. New or novice gardeners are paired with more experienced gardeners who help in planting, weeding and harvesting in the plots. Education is an important element to the community garden, as we aim to make the new gardeners self-sustainable in the future.

Started in 2009, the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden was the precursor project to the broader GFGH initiative, and is still one of the centerpieces of our project. In 2010 we expanded the garden from 20 to 40 plots, and we added two kids garden beds to accommodate the children of our garden families.

Are you interested in maintaining a plot in the community garden? Applications will be available to the public beginning January 5, 2011. For more information check out our brochure or contact our Community Garden VISTA.

For more information about the community garden, please contact:

Angie Lauver
Community Garden & Community Outreach
Wilmington College AmeriCorps* VISTA
Grow Food, Grow Hope Garden Initiative
alauver@wilmington.edu
(937) 382-6661 ext. 596

To see all blog posts about the community garden, click here.

A Fresh Taste

2010-07-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

This post is written by one of our Grow Food Grow Hope Summer Associates, Amy Petzold, about her experience during the Culinary Job Training Class.

I have always been interested in food from a very young age. I would invent my own recipes when I was seven and eight no matter how disgusting and odd they looked. Just imagine what a seven or eight year old would make when left to their own devices. As I have grown up, food network television shows slowly replaced cartoons in my free time. I constantly gain ideas from shows that I watch and adapt them in my head making a culinary feast that would rival any top chef…if only in my mind. I enjoy finding whatever leftovers are in my refrigerator and making new concoctions with foods that are new to me. I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love to create. I am forever a foodie through my heart and soul.

With this blooming love of food and cooking, it is with great excitement that I observed Chef Tom’s Culinary Class held at Sugartree Ministries. Tom and his group of around ten chefs come together in order to learn new techniques, create food, and share meals. This lesson that I observed involved learning American Regional Cooking. Chef Tom explained that each region of American has its own unique style of cooking derived from many different cultures around the world. Except for Native American cooking, which has been influenced by early settlers, no food is essentially American. Like our people, American cuisine is a melting pot of cultures and races all coming together to influence one another in unique and surprising ways. On the menu for this week’s lesson is: smoked pork loin prepared four ways, homemade barbeque sauce, three stuffed chicken recipes, mashed garlic potatoes, roasted herb red potatoes, southern style cole slaw, and a salad with a homemade vinaigrette. With such an ambitious meal to prepare in four hours, including prep, tasting, and washing, the chefs began dividing tasks immediately and started work.

Students prepare southern style Coleslaw for their American meal.

Red roasted potatoes with a little Chef creativity
become a magical side dish.

With reality food shows on an all-time high, many Americans have the stereotype that all kitchens have at least one hot-tempered chef that disturbs the relationship of the chefs. However, this stereotype is instantly broken when one enters the Culinary Class at Sugartree Ministries. Chef Tom leads a fun, insightful, skill-testing class focused on food and collaboration. Many kitchens and work places everywhere would marvel at the fun, respectful, and hard-working collaboration of the chefs. If one did not see the chefs in their chef coats, chef hats, and using proper chef etiquette, one would think that they had just entered a food party of friends rather that a class of working colleagues. While they work, the chefs joke with each other and liven the room with their comradery. Do not let the close relationship of the chefs fool you; the chefs have many differing personalities, ages, and lifestyles, yet they are all bound together by a love of food.

When the class is in full motion, one can only observe the wild, yet focused tornado of foods, jokes, utensils, and pans. The kitchen comes to life with more dishes and ideas than one can even fathom. I could give you a blow by blow of the cooking agenda and the recipes, but I will not. Although I do feel these things are very important, I feel that one can ask for these things at any time. I want to give you an idea of the overall atmosphere of the class that can only be truly felt through experience, yet I will try with words to paint a similar picture.

Using the new food thermometers donated by Wilmington College's Sodexo
Food Fact: Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

The various skills taught throughout the class were enough to make one’s head spin. The chefs learned how to make an inside smoker using everyday kitchen items. They learned how to make their own barbeque sauce using whatever kind that they would like. They learned how to make stuffed chicken with a variety of seasonings. They learned how to make Southern cole slaw and potatoes. While the chefs were preparing their food, they also were instructed on proper cutting techniques, culinary terminology, proper sauce technique, proper smoking technique, and proper kitchen technique. The skills that the chefs learned in even one class will be invaluable as they continue on their culinary journey.

During the class, recipes served only as guidelines. Chef Tom encouraged the chefs to make the recipes their own. He allowed them to express their creativity, their personal tastes, and their personalities through their food. The variations made on even the same dish with the same ingredients on hand, baffles the mind. Through seasoning control, technique, and ingredient choice, the chefs’ dishes offered a mix of different tastes and personalities.

Chris Green of Central State's Sodexo checks
the myriad of dishes in the oven.

It is hard not to help the chefs when one observes the class. The smells and sounds that fill the kitchen make it very difficult to resist diving in to help. However, when the food is done and plated, few can resist the chance to take a taste of the different foods that the chefs have created. One gets to fully realize the skills of the chef when one tastes the spicy chicken, smoked pork loin, sweet barbeque sauce, savory chicken, fresh herb potatoes, sweet chicken, garlicky potatoes, sweet green tea sauce, tangy cole slaw, and flavorful vinaigrette, one realizes the immense techniques of all the chefs. Moreover, in an effort to maintain a learning kitchen, the chefs give constructive criticism on each dish that they try as the chefs share their food with everyone. Most of the comments are very positive; however, suggestion can only make a dish better. Hungry now?

Chicken stuffed with pepper jack cheese.

Once all the food has been cooked and tasted, the class would not be complete without a group clean up. Many of the chefs clean throughout the cooking time. However, each chef is responsible for cleaning their work area and the dishes that they all used. No one complains when it is time to clean. The chefs accept it as a necessary duty after a job well done.

The culinary class held at Sugartree Ministries is definitely an experience for anyone who likes food. Moreover, the talent, comradery, and opinions shared are invaluable for anyone who likes to cook. I personally cannot wait until I visit the class next to see what else the chefs have under their hats and up their sleeves.

No plate is complete without presentation.

For more information about the Culinary Job Training Class please contact Food Distribution Coordinator, Jessica Braun, at 937-382-6661 ext 488.

Local Business Assists Larger Area

2010-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

Every donation makes an impact but sometimes, they can make a huge difference. This was the case with a recent donation of tomato plants from Buckley Brothers Inc. The Buckley staff delivered several flats of surplus tomato plants to their neighbor, Sugartree Ministries, last Wednesday afternoon. With little room in the vegetable beds at the Verizon Telecommunications building, the Sugartree Staff turned to Grow Food Grow Hope Food Distribution Coordinator, Jessica Braun, to share the abundance.

Not only was Braun and a group of garden-loving Summer Associates able to place several of the plants at Sugartree's gardens, but they also shared them with area organizations, such as the New Vienna United Methodist Church and Hope Emergency Program-a food pantry in the Lynchburg, OH area. Braun shares that, "With this donation, Buckley's not only affected Sugartree Ministries and Wilmington, but they affected the entire surrounding area."

Summer Associate, Taylor Money-Worthy, digs holes
for tomato plants at Hope Emergency Program

With the average yield of a tomato plant being between 35 and 40 pounds of fruit, these plants will allow Hope Emergency Program, New Vienna United Methodist Church, and Sugartree Ministries to distribute a huge amount of produce to their clients this growing season. Carmen Sparks, a volunteer at New Vienna UMC's food pantry, was excited not only for the tomato plants but also for the land that a local farmer was donating to plant them on. Sparks states, "we are just so blessed to be able to receive these things and share them with people." The plants were additionally given to community members who have pledged to share their bounty with the greater Clinton County community.

A spindly plant is staked in expectation of its growth
at the Verizon Telecommunications building

Local Businesses Help Out

2010-06-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the Wilmington and Clinton County community has been such great supporters of Grow Food, Grow Hope and all of the different projects we do. This post highlights two of the most recent examples of support from local businesses.

Weathervane Dry Cleaning generously donated their time to clean all of the Chef's jackets and hats for our Culinary Job Training Class. We are now halfway through the class and the students have really appreciated having the chef uniform to wear each week. Volunteers have also noticed the students as they come and go to Sugartree Ministries before and after class, noting how official the students look in their industry-specific uniforms.

Culinary Students pose with members of the Weathervane team.

Local bookstore and music shop, For a Song and a Story, has recently taken interest in our gardening efforts. Upon meeting several of Grow Food, Grow Hope's new Summer Associates, owner Cindy Shivers asked about the gardens across from Sugartree Ministries located at 215 E. Main Street in front of the Verizon Telecommunications building. After several minutes of discussion and the mention of some tomato plants in need of stakes Ms. Shivers sent the group with enough stakes to ensure happy tomato plants.

Newly staked tomato plants at 215 E Main.

Grow Food Grow Hope is so grateful to every business and community member in Wilmington and the Clinton County area who have volunteered, donated, and/or supported our initiative. We couldn't have done it without you!

Another Night at the Community Garden

2010-06-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Last night at our weekly community garden night, our garden families gathered to harvest spinach, lettuce and the rest of any remaining radishes. The incoming thunderstorms held out and we were lucky to stay dry for the hour we were outside.

For the cooking demonstration, we used our harvested spinach to prepare a strawberry spinach salad, and a fresh spinach dip.

The recipes for the spinach salad and fresh spinach dip can be found at our cooking demonstration page.

Breakfast Served All Day

2010-06-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Halfway through our Culinary Job Training Class and the students have now learned Egg Cookery. Several dozen eggs and Chef Tom's expertise allowed the students to create and try not only the basics of eggs over-easy or over-hard but also eggs shirred and eggs poached.

Three consistencies of egg: over-easy, over-medium, and over-hard

The first task the students needed to master was the art of cooking an egg to the perfect consistency. Chef Tom instructed each student to pan fry three eggs. A pan fried egg does not have to be over-easy as most people think, eggs with a slightly firmer yolk are called over-medium and pan fried eggs that have a completely solid yolk are called over-hard.

Chef Tom judges a student's pan fried eggs.

Of course, pan frying eggs also takes a bit of practice not only to create the desired consistencies but also to learn how to flip the egg as to cook both sides evenly without a huge mess or a broken yolk. Students spent extra time on this, one of the most stressful moments in cooking.

Chef Tom explains the proper way to flip an egg.

Using dry heat to cook the next type of egg the students learned was eggs shirred. Eggs shirred are eggs that are baked in individual ramekins with heavy whipping cream and flavored to taste: savory or sweet. Shirred eggs are much creamier than a normal egg however eating one plain without any spices tastes similar to a hard-boiled egg. The sweetened eggs shirred were also quite delicious and reminded many of a creme brulee dessert with their round form and golden brown tops.

Shirred eggs about to enter the oven.

The final type of egg the students cooked were poached. A poached egg is fairly simple requiring only a pan of boiling water with a little white vineagar to help eggs cling to themselves. The egg is poured gently from a bowl into the boiling water and the egg white should wrap around the yolk and cook until removed. Poached eggs, like any other type of egg, may be cooked easy or soft leaving the yolk more liquid or hard creating a hard yolk and a final product that looks similar to a hard boiled egg.

Students discuss their favorite types of eggs.

With some time to taste test the students left with new favorite types of eggs and plans for breakfast the next morning. Next week's class will focus on Meat Fabrication techniques and how to properly handle all types of raw meat.

June / July Newsletter now available

2010-06-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Our June / July newsletter is now available to download and print. In it, you can read all of the latest updates on our garden sites and our various projects around the community.

Click the thumbnail above to open it, or click here. If you would like to download the PDF, click here.

Sharpening Our Skills

2010-06-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Week Four of our Culinary Job Training Class welcomed Chef Tom back to discuss knife sharpening, steeling and the different styles of cuts that the students would need to know to prepare dishes. Students had their first opportunity to utilize the renovated kitchen at Sugartree Ministries while learning to julienne peppers, dice onions, concasse tomatoes (a process where the tomatoes are scored and scalded, skins and seeds removed, and the flesh diced) to create a delicious salsa which was served at the Ministry's Tuesday evening meal.

Students watch intently as Chef Tom illustrates the appropriate
way to julienne a pepper

Chef Tom exhibits the appropriate way to handle a chef's knife.

Still time for some fun while learning.

Once they had sharpened their culinary skills the students also had the opportunity to sharpen their life skills. Director of Career Services at Wilmington College, Barbara Kaplan, generously utilized her services for the afternoon critiquing students' resumes and giving them hints and tips on resume writing. "Your job as the job seeker is to make them want to hire you" she reminds the students, "you want to show them what skills you can bring to their organization and the position you're applying for."

Director of Career Services, Barbara Kaplan, presents to class.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions, view their critiqued resumes and discuss the ins and outs of job search etiquette. From objective statements to references the students left with example resumes, hints and tips, and a generous offer of assistance from Barbara to continue helping them perfect their resumes. Students left brimming with information and excited at the promise of more cooking next week.

Market at the Mural opens for the summer

2010-06-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Clinton County Farmers Market at the Mural officially opened for the summer season on Saturday, despite a looming thunderstorm that poured on market shoppers later in the afternoon. Local farmers and vendors sold produce, herbs, baked goods, pastured meats and other products in the parking lot adjacent to the General Denver hotel.

Ten of the fifteen market vendors sold at the opening day and a steady stream of customers funneled in to shop and sample some of the local products. A local Boy Scout troop volunteered by pulling wagons for elderly and disabled shoppers who needed help getting their groceries to their cars. The General Denver offered its fabled Farmers Market breakfast for just five dollars, and GD head chef Jen Purkey stopped by to get her weekly supply of market fare.

The market is now open every Wednesday from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Stop by and support your local farmers!

Hearkening the days of old

2010-05-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mike McCormick of Wilmington is seen plowing a field at the Wilmington College farm on Fife Avenue on Thursday. 9-year-old Erma and her 8-year-old brother Leon pull the plow, and Mike behind it. For the second year, WC and Grow Food, Grow Hope are planting potatoes in the field for donation to local food pantries. In 2009, we harvested some 6,000 lbs. of potatoes, all of which were donated.

Kids planting at Wilmington Childcare & Learning

2010-05-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

We continued yesterday our daily task of planting and building new garden beds at a number of our different sites around Wilmington. Eric built a new garden bed at the Wilmington Homeless Shelter, Aileen helped plant at our Mulberry Street Community Garden, and Mariah planted (with a cadre of eager helpers) at Patri-Tots Daycare Facility and Wilmington Childcare & Learning.

The students at the latter two facilities were ecstatic to be outside and working in the soil. We never get tired of taking photos of these kids, because their enthusiasm is beaming and we can tell they are genuinely excited about this weird new process of growing plants you can eat.

The kids planted tomatoes, peppers, onions and edamame, and helped map out the rest of the bed that was planted the week earlier.

We are nearing the end of the garden builds, and the first round of planting this season is almost done, too. Now, we let nature work it's magic while we watch and wait.

WYSO produces series on Wilmington, Grow Food, Grow Hope

2010-05-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

For almost a year, a radio reporter from WYSO in Yellow Springs, a local NPR affiliate, has been interviewing people in Wilmington for a series of stories that were aired last week. Emily McCord spoke at length with several Grow Food, Grow Hope VISTAs about our experiences in Wilmington and what it means to be working in a community that many of us know so well.

The series, titled "Wilmington's Homegrown Hope" aired as five separate stories, each of which ran during Morning Edition on May 10 through the 14th. Eric Guindon and John Cropper, our Community Outreach and Public Relations coordinators, respectively, were featured in the second installment, and Dessie Buchanan and her efforts at the Clinton County Farmers Market were the focus of the third day's story.

John Cropper and Eric Guindon, left. Dessie Buchanan, right. Photos by Briana Brough for WYSO

All five installments were aired as one long story on Sunday morning, and we heard from several people yesterday who heard the story on WOSU, the Columbus NPR affiliate. If you haven't yet listened to them, we highly recommend you do. They're linked below.

We want to thank Emily for her excellent job telling a complex story, one that other media organizations have tried to tell in shorter time and often missed the mark. Her thoroughness and narrative voice make each story fit together seamlessly. Of all the national media attention we've received this last year, from People Magazine to 60 Minutes to the Associated Press, Emily's story stands apart. We are humbled and grateful, and reminded yet again that the work we're able to do is important work.

Wilmington's Homegrown Hope Part 1
Wilmington's Homegrown Hope Part 2 - Featuring GFGH's Eric Guindon and John Cropper
Wilmington's Homegrown Hope Part 3 - Featuring GFGH's Dessie Buchanan
Wilmington's Homegrown Hope Part 4
Wilmington's Homegrown Hope Part 5

Abandoned planters turned productive gardens

2010-05-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Monday morning's dreary weather was no match for our volunteers from Timbertech. 16 enthusiastic volunteers arrived at 8:30 Monday to landscape, plant vegetables, mulch, and give some much needed Tender Loving Care to the beds both directly in front of Sugartree Ministries at 180 E Main Street as well as the five raised beds across the street owned by Verizon.

The day began with a tour of Sugartree Ministry and an explanation of the Grow Food Grow Hope program and the vision of Jessica Braun, our Food Distribution Coordinator, who created the plan for the Ministry's garden project.

"I want this garden to be educational as well as provide fresh vegetables. We have so many people who come into the ministry with health problems: obesity and diabetes; and being able to provide them and educate them on how to eat and grow their own healthy food could save their lives. They're going to come into the ministry tonight and see this garden they've planted and this will be Day 1 for them. And they will see what it looks like in a day, a week, a month, and see that with a little love and a little effort you can grow your own food and maybe next year they'll be our next group of community garden or backyard garden families and we'll be able to educate them even better."

With an understanding of what they were working for the volunteers got started despite the wet weather. Using the Square Foot Gardening method they planted square-by-square in the planters, which Verizon has generously allowed us to use this season, filling them with combinations of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, onions, and as many vegetables as could be grown in the small space.

The volunteers made short work of the gardens as well as the landscaped beds adjacent to the building. We were ecstatic to have such a strong turnout despite the weather, and we're ready to watch these gardens grow.

Backyard garden planting almost complete

2010-05-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

Despite the rainy weather this week, we're finishing up the last few plantings for our backyard garden project, which has taken us into the backyards of families across Clinton County. We've been thrilled with the response from the families, and their excitement is obvious even in these early days of the growing season.

Probably the most exciting aspect of this new project is the level of involvement for the children of our families. Across the board, they're curious, inquisitive and eager to get their hands dirty. That is unquestionably the best way to build healthy eating habits: by starting early, and by engaging the kids with fun and practical learning techniques.

After this week, almost all of our garden sites will be planted and ready to grow. Yesterday, we had an amazing group of volunteers from a local business help plant a new garden site at Sugartree Ministries, which Jessica will be posting about later this morning. The season carries on, and the plants are starting to grow.

Guest Chef Teaches Culinary Class

2010-05-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today's post comes from Food Distribution Coordinator Jessica Braun

Mike Huffer of Wittenburg University taught the second week of the Culinary Job Training Class at Sugartree Ministries on Tuesday, May 11th. Mike is Wittenberg's Executive Chef and started with Sodexo approximately three years ago after working at the University of Notre Dame's food service. He brought a great deal of energy to the class while teaching the ins and outs of recipe quantification, product ID (knowing what a product is and what it should look like when it arrives to the kitchen), and menu planning. Throughout the class, the students discussed everything from how to plan a menu, how to break down and multiply recipes, to how to delegate the responsibilities when planning a menu and catering an event.

Students practiced recipe quantification -and their math skills- by converting measurements from cups to quarts to gallons and back again. They also reviewed halving and multiplying recipes, which answered questions such as, "how many cups are needed if you halve this recipe?" or "how many cups are needed to quadruple this recipe?"

Chef Mike Huffer discusses meal planning with students

Chef Mike closed the class by asking the students to plan their own meals. Each student had to present what they would cook, what they would need to make this meal and what ingredients they usually have on hand vs what ingredients needed from the store. Additionally, they had to present the order in which they needed to prepare things. The students explored questions such as, "do you cook the meat or vegetables first?" "Do you need to marinate something overnight?" They also addressed issues such as, "What will take the most of your preparation time?" and "How does the recipe/preparation change if you're cooking for 5,000 people vs only your family?"

The Culinary Job Training class will continue through July with a Mystery Basket Final where guest judges will evaluate the students' abilities to improvise a dish with provided ingredients.

Next farmers market May 15th

2010-05-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

The "Winter" Farmers' Market will be making one final appearance in our temporary new location before making its final stop for the Summer season.

You can find your favorite vendors and all of their delicious local products at WILMINGTON COLLEGE on Saturday, May 15th from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.

We will be in the parking lot between Kettering Hall and Boyd Auditorium, right off of College Street across from the Douglas Street intersection. Need directions - check out the map here!

For your convenience, I have including links to the updated product list (Click HERE for the list), the latest order form (Click HERE for the form), or you can find both documents online at www.clintoncountyfarmersmarket.com.

....

The Summer Market will return to its downtown location in the Mural Parking Lot (81 W. Main Street) on Saturday, June 5th! The Summer Market will continue through the Summer every week on Saturdays (8:30 am - 12 pm) and Wendesdays (1:30 - 5:30 pm).

....

Just as a reminder....

The Winter Market does offer pre-orders. Just return the order form via email, fax, or post or order online at www.clintoncountyfarmersmarket.com. All orders are due by 3:00 pm on Tuesday, May 11th.

Your orders will be available for pick-up and payment at the Market on Saturday, May 15th, at Wilmington College between the hours of 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. The orders and payments will be separated by specific vendors and are payable by cash or personal check.

While pre-orders are encouraged, our vendors will still have a variety of products available for sale on the morning of the Market.

If you have any questions about the Market or the ordering process, please contact me at 382-6661 ext 488 or via email at dessie@buylocalcc.com. You can also find out more about the Farmers' Market at www.clintoncountyfarmersmarket.com.

Community Garden officially opens: photos and video

2010-05-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

We held our first official community garden night last night, marking the beginning of our gardening season. Families came together to meet their garden mentors, to see their garden beds, and to plant lettuce, spinach, onions, beets and broccoli. The beds already had sage and oregano growing from earlier in the season, so we harvested some of each for two different recipes that we prepared on site: lemon sage dip and herb & lemon goat cheese spread.

While the families tended to their new garden beds, many of the kids joined Mariah, our Youth Outreach Coordinator, to make garden journals which they'll use to keep track of their family's progress.

Here is a video from our first official garden night last night. (Click on the video to view larger.)

We're excited to officially begin the gardening season. We're still planting at a number of our sites around the county, so stay tuned for updates on those.

Culinary Job Training program begins

2010-05-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today's post comes from Food Distribution Coordinator Jessica Braun

Chef Tom Tiner introduces the Culinary Job Training Class.

"This is not a Martha Stewart cooking class," says Sodexo Executive Chef Tom Tiner as he opens the first day of the 11-week Culinary Job Training Class. He continues, explaining to eight attentive students, that this class is not for those who enjoy cooking but for those who want cooking to be their lives and livelihoods.

This 11-week certificate course is truly a crash course in everything culinary from the basics of safety and sanitiation to a mystery basket day where students will be given a basket of ingredients and must create a dish from them to be judged as their final project.

The eight students were selected from a pool of over twenty applicants and all have dreams of either opening their own restaurants, catering businesses, or becoming Head or Sous Chefs at restaurants. "Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity" says Jean Stroman whose words were echoed by all of the chosen students whose previous culinary experiences range from chef classes in Virginia to simply cooking for their families.

Students listen attentively to industry safety and sanitation standards.

In Tuesday's information packed class Chef Tom explained the safety and sanitation standards of the culinary industry and how to keep food safe. A demonstration on how to calibrate a food thermometer with ice water showed how the simplest things can help take care of one of food safety's most important tools. Chef Tom provided booklets brimming with temperature charts and industry standards while students asked questions about the differences between the restaurant and food service industries. Chef Tom, with over 24 years of experience as a Chef told stories of restaurants he'd worked in the past and how things had changed.

"The standards are always changing. When I was in Culinary School they were still teaching the old standards, everything just changed this year and now we have to teach ourselves what the new standards are and make sure that we're keeping up with them. A lot of our job is knowing rules and regulations and making sure that our kitchens adhere to them....I've had a health inspection where we got a 99.5%, we were docked .5% because I didn't have a hat on while I gave the inspector a tour."

After four hours of heating and cooling standards, cleanser, latex clothes and food borne pathogen discussions the students were overwhelmed with information. However, at the end of the day a tour of Sugartree Ministries' new Rachael Ray kitchen and the distribution of chef's coat and hat for each left the students breathless and excited to start cooking.

Community Garden expansion, in hours and in beds

2010-05-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Our community garden is growing, in more ways than one.

We continued last week the process of building and filling 20 new beds at the garden, which opens for the season on Tuesday night during our first community garden night. We'll be planting some transplants, talking about the upcoming season and getting to know our new garden families.

To accommodate the different schedules of our garden participants and their families, we're extending our weekly get-togethers to Saturday morning, from 9 to 10 a.m., as well as on Tuesday nights from 7 to 8 p.m. Obviously, any of the garden participants are welcome to come plant, weed and harvest in their beds whenever they like, but we've found that scheduling a common time to come together really helps build a sense of community at the garden.

The public is more than welcome to come to any of our garden nights, so stop by and say hello tomorrow night or Tuesday morning.

Below are some photos from the expansion on Thursday.

Gardens popping up around town

2010-04-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

It's strange how quickly months of talking, planning and scheduling turn into actions, which then turn into results.

In a matter of weeks, we've built or prepped more than 35 garden beds (counting our community garden expansion, our new Mulberry Street community garden, all of our school and youth center gardens, and six retro-fitted planters in front of the county's busiest food pantry.) None of it really registered until we reflected on it this week; planning is just planning until you act. And so it begins.

We were fortunate this past weekend to dodge the rainy weather in time to finish our garden installations. At each of our sites, we had a great group of Wilmington College student volunteers, who now all have a direct connection to our efforts in building and sustaining a fresh food economy in Clinton County. We hope they're proud of their work.

Volunteer Mike Newman helps 5-year-old Felix Campbell flip sod at one of our garden sites, the Clinton County Youth Council.

GFGH Growers Co-op Coordinator Aileen Ash and WC volunteer Sara Douglass move a garden bed frame to the garden site at the Mulberry Street community garden.

Future garden beds, former vacant planters, across from Sugartree Ministries

All of this, even before we begin our backyard garden installations around the county next week.

Below is a photo slideshow of our Mulberry Street community garden construction.

Building gardens for the Quake, celebrating the Aftershock

2010-04-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

As expected, this week has been full of soil prepping, wood cutting, garden building and more. Yesterday's Food Symposium brought three well-known speakers and several impactful exhibits to the college, making it a successful first year for the hopefully annual event. But, just because it's Friday doesn't mean the week is over.

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 24, is Global Youth Service Day, an event with a name that sums up its scope. More importantly though, tomorrow is the Quake, the annual Wilmington College service event that brings students and volunteers into the community to work on specific projects for the entire day. We are working at four different garden sites around town, building raised bed gardens or retro-fitting old planters with fruit, vegetables and herbs. All of our sites could use some help with volunteers, so if you'd like to get out and make a difference for a few hours tomorrow morning, let us know!

Here are the places that are getting some Grow Food, Grow Hope love tomorrow:

The Clinton County Youth Council
We'll be building at least one raised bed garden at the CCYC, as well as assisting in a cleanup effort and helping paint some murals inside the facility. If you are interested in volunteering at the CCYC, contact Eric Guindon, our Community Outreach Coordinator, at (937) 382-6661 ext. 488 or Kevin Walls, CCYC Director, at (937) 728-1328.

Wilmington Childcare & Learning
We'll be building two children's garden beds on the playground of Wilmington Childcare & Learning. If you are interested in volunteering at WC&L, contact Mariah Fulton, our Youth Outreach Coordinator, at (937) 382-6661 ext. 488.

Sugartree Ministries
We will be transforming six dilapidated garden planters in front of the old Verizon building across the street from Sugartree Ministries into retro-fitted, raised bed gardens. We will be adding and preparing soil in the beds and will plant at a later date. We will also be working inside the Ministry on a variety of projects. If you are interested in volunteering at Sugartree Ministries, contact Jessica Braun, our Food Distribution Coordinator, at (937) 382-6661 ext. 488.

Mulberry Street Community Garden
We're very excited about our newest garden site downtown, on a tract of land on Mulberry Street owned by the generous Scott Kirschner. We are building a seven plot community garden Saturday afternoon, as well as adding and amending the soil for each bed. If you are interested in volunteering at the Mulberry Street Community Garden, contact Aileen Ash, our Growers Co-op Coordinator, at (937) 382-6661 ext. 488.

After the Quake, we'll be celebrating our day of service on campus with the annual Aftershock event. Starting at 6:00 p.m., there will be live music as well as the Summer Break Games, a series of games and challenges. The games will include: Watermelon Pig Out, Jello Diving, Suds of War, Breakfast Face and Sit on the Sundae. If the names alone don't entice you, then the games themselves surely will.

So come out on Saturday and pitch in to help your local community. And maybe get a little breakfast on your face afterward.

Adam in the garden

2010-04-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

Much thanks to Noah Campbell, pastor of First Baptist Church here in Wilmington, for the inspirational message and GFGH plug on his church's sign on Locust Street downtown. We've all got gardens on our mind this week, as we ready for the growing season and begin the garden builds around town, as well as the start of the expansion of our community garden.

Indeed, it's going to be a busy week. National Gardening Month continues for a third week today. The community garden is slated to get a 20-plot upgrade either today or tomorrow. On Thursday, the college is hosting the first annual Food Symposium, which we are excited to be a part of. And Saturday marks Global Youth Service Day as well as WC's annual Quake and Aftershock, both of which are service related days which will bring students and volunteers out into the community for a day of service.

As part of the Quake, we'll be building garden beds at the Clinton County Youth Council and retro-fitting some dilapidated garden planters in front of Sugartree Ministries.

So check back often this week; there will be lots of updates.

First garden work of the season at Wilmington Childcare & Learning

2010-04-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we broke ground on a new garden site for the first time in 2010, as we prepped the soil for two gardens at Wilmington Childcare & Learning. They're the first of several school gardens we have planned for this growing season, and we are thrilled to finally be bringing our hands-on, garden evangelism to Clinton County youth.

Eric, Mariah and I staked out two, 4'x4' squares on a plot of unused land in the back of the facility, right next to where all the children play during their recess. We had an audience of kids to watch us flip the sod and add amendments to the soil, as we readied the ground for the coming weeks, when we'll build the raised-bed frames and add some more amendments.

It felt great to be outside, working the earth after a long and cold winter. We all broke a sweat and our hands showed the early stages of inevitable garden callouses

In the next few weeks, we will be preparing and building gardens at Hillsboro Elementary and Patri-Tots, the childcare facility of Southern State Community College. These, as well as our 12 new backyard gardens builds and the 20 new plots at our community garden. Things are about to get busy, but we're more than ready. The growing season is upon us.

Farmers Market comes to Wilmington College

2010-04-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

The "Winter" Farmers' Market is moving to a temporary new location before making its final stop for the Summer season in the Mural Parking lot. You can find your favorite vendors and all of their delicious local products at Wilmington College on Saturday, April 17th from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. So if you're a W.C. student, come start your weekend off right with some fresh food from farmers you know.

We will be in the parking lot between Kettering Hall and Boyd Auditorium, right off of College Street across from the Douglas Street intersection. Need directions - check out the map here!

Stock up for Spring with amazing homemade breads and fresh meats, get rid of dry Winter skin with all natural-skin care, treat yourself with delicious chocolates and cookies, and spice up your life with fresh herbs!

For your convenience, I have including links to the updated product list (Click HERE for the list), the latest order form (Click HERE for the form), or you can find both documents online at www.clintoncountyfarmersmarket.com.

Hopefully we'll see you there!

W.C. Executive Chef hosts cooking demonstration

2010-04-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

Wilmington College Executive Chef Tom Tiner hosted a cooking demonstration at Sugartree Ministries yesterday afternoon, as an introduction to our upcoming Culinary Job Training program that begins on May 4th.

Tiner taught a group of onlookers how to properly chop vegetables, how to safely hold a knife and the best way to bread a meat cutlet. He prepared breaded veal cutlets with capers, Italian seasoning and basil, and sauteed squash, zucchini and red peppers.

"It's food," Tiner said. "Have fun with it."

The Culinary Job Training program is provided completely free for participants, and is a collaboration between Sodexo, the Art Institute of Cincinnati, and Grow Food, Grow Hope. It is an 11-week course that meets once a week on Tuesday mornings, and is open to 8 participants only, so apply now!

More information about the class and more pictures of Tom's demonstration are after the jump:

For more information about the Culinary Job Training program, click here or contact Jessica Braun at (937) 382-6661 ext. 488.