Our Youth Gardening Program

Picture of child watering

We serve over 1,200 at-risk, low-income, and inner-city youth every year in our Experiential Education Program. This program take place at two of our gardens:

Grateful Tomato Garden:
800 South 600 East

Fairpark Garden:

300 North 1037 West

The fresh, organic produce grown by the youth program is enjoyed by the students and also donated to local food banks.

Experiential Education Program

In this program we serve the majority of our youth, ranging in age from 5 to 18 years old. Youth come to our gardens through collaborations with agencies in Salt Lake City:

Capitol West Boys and Girls Club Homeless Shelter's Treshaw School
Comprehensive Psychological Services Horizonte Instruction and Training Center
Girl Scouts of America Indian Walk-In Center
Kiwanis-Felt Recreation Center Jewish Community Center
Lincoln Elementary After-School Program Neighborhood House
Neighborhood Housing Services Odyssey House Children's Program
Northwest Multipurpose Center Sugarhouse Boys and Girls Club
Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center Valley Mental Health's CBTU Program
YWCA's Battered Women's Shelter Valley Mental Health's ARTEC
YMCA Youth Corrections' Genesis Program
Youth Works Youth Support Systems Project Link
Youth Corrections' Observation and Assessment
Youth Corrections' Detention Alternatives for Responsible Teens (DART)
Central High Schools Safe School Training and Education Program (SSTEP)
Youth Services' Knowledge Enhances Your Success (KEYS)

Every spring, summer, and fall, we offer kids in this program a core program of 13 classes. These hands-on classes cover everything from composting and double-digging to tomato-tasting. During harvest, the youth collect produce to be donated to local food banks. It is very rewarding to see these kids learn more about plants, insects, and animals, and even more rewarding to see them caring for the land, each other, and themselves.

Every year, youth and adults at the collaborating agencies fill out evaluations of our program to let us know how they enjoyed learning and suggestions for making it better.

Picture of Youth Volunteers.

One specific food pantry, Crossroads Urban Center's Linda E. Lema Food Pantry, is a partner of Wasatch Community Gardens. The staff of Crossroads Urban Center is amazing, as is the work they do. Please visit their website here.

If you have any questions about our Youth Gardening Program, email youth@wasatchgardens.org or call Laura at 359-2658, ext.3.