Wasatch Community Gardens Blog

Blog written by Bill Stadwiser, WCG Youth Program Director Ask around, and you’ll find that pressure cookers have a reputation for being loud, expensive, and dangerous.  While this reputation was true for many of our parents’ (or perhaps grandparents) generation, modern pressure cookers are truly a delight to use. And while modern units have largely ditched the issues that have plagued the models of yesteryear, they’ve kept and even improved upon the tremendous time, energy, water, and nutritional efficiencies that make pressure-cooking attractive in the first place.   So if you’re interested in learning about pressure cookers, read on … A Brief History of Pressure Cooking: Pressure cookers have been around since the late 17th century. Original models were made out of a hodge-podge of materials, were prone to exploding, and were considered by many to be more of a scientific curiosity than a useful tool for the masses.  By the...

Blog written by Susan Finlayson, WCG Community Gardens Program Director   Photos courtesy of Mark Hooyer       "We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community." -Dorothy Day   I am reading a book by Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness, for a book club that I participate in.  What I have learned so far is that Dorothy Day was an activist in the early 20th century.  The daughter of a journalist, she went to school in Chicago, cut her teeth with bohemian radicals in New York City in the roaring 20s, dabbled in nursing, and eventually found her calling as founder and publisher of The Catholic Worker.   For a famous activist, she had a surprising humility about her life. She questioned her worthiness often. Much of her book chronicles the vicissitudes of life of a middle-class women in the early 20th...

Teachers overwhelmingly view gardens as valuable!  Even when teachers can’t find the time to make it out to the garden for classes, they still value the beauty, diversity, and sensory engagement that gardens can offer their students.  Community gardens offer unique opportunities to teach youth about:   • Where food comes from; • Practical math skills; • Basic business principles; • The importance of community and stewardship; • Issues of environmental sustainability; • Job and life skills;   And, community gardening is a healthy, inexpensive activity for youth that can bring them closer to nature, and allow them to interact with each other in a socially meaningful and physically productive way.     Next Steps: Identifying design principles that school districts can utilize to encourage more teachers to head out into the garden, or to see it as a more valuable asset. The Future of the School Garden Program: While designing these programs, Liz has kept an...

There is no doubt that school gardens are beneficial for children, their families, and their communities.  School gardens increase physical activity, food literacy, self-esteem, connection to community through volunteerism, increased food access, and a sense of pride and accomplishment.  But when teachers are already tight on time when it comes to planning their year, week, and day, the idea of integrating a whole new curriculum can be daunting and time consuming. Next Steps: There are a few approaches to alleviating these curriculum stressors that the WCG School Garden Program is currently working on: 1. Deconstruct the WCG curriculum so that it is not a single year-long, 400-page document, but instead single lesson plans, searchable by curriculum standards. 2. Bring more volunteers into the classroom!  Find parents, volunteers, and master gardeners who have the time to dedicate to going into a classroom once a week or twice a month for a...

In the past, WCG offered limited support to school gardens on school grounds and provided teachers with year-long, garden-based curriculum on our website.  In August 2014, however, WCG hired Liz Pedersen to take a close look at needs unique to school gardens. So far, Liz has approached revamping WCG’s School Garden Program by identifying community allies, gathering information, and coordinating meetings between stakeholders already supporting school gardens.  She also asked teachers what they would like to see in a school gardening program and what resources they would need to successfully integrate gardening into curriculum.  Here are some key results from Liz’s initial research: This knowledge gap can act as a barrier, keeping teachers from participating in the garden with their classes.  The refrain, “I don’t want to go out and work in the garden, what if I pull out a tomato plant thinking it’s a weed!” was repeated all too frequently....

Dear Friends of Wasatch Community Gardens,    Wasatch Community Gardens would like to take this opportunity to educate our supporters about Salt Lake County Proposal #1: Zoo, Arts, and Parks (ZAP) tax renewal.   The mission of the ZAP Program is to enhance Salt Lake County resident and visitor experiences through art, cultural, and recreational offerings. ZAP is a two-time voter approved 1/10th of 1% sales tax that was first supported by Salt Lake County voters in 1996 and renewed in 2004 that helps support and enhance our local Zoo, Arts and Parks and Recreation throughout Salt Lake County. Voters now have the opportunity to renew this program (with no increase) as County Proposal #1, on the last page of the ballot. Who Receives ZAP Funding? Along with more than 30 parks, trails and recreational facilities and over 160 arts, cultural, and zoological organizations, Wasatch Community Gardens is a recipient of ZAP...

We have a magnet on our refrigerator in the office that says, "Try organic food.  Or as your grandparents called it, food." Common sense?  Maybe. But some people might not realize this.  Help empower your community to try organic food in your neighborhood, or as your grandparents called it, food, by starting a community garden. Come to our New Community Garden Open Houses City & County Building, 451 S State St, Salt Lake City Saturday, October 18th 10:00am - 12:30pm Wasatch Community Gardens partners with Salt Lake City Green to manage Green City Growers, a program that provides residents with access to community gardens on City-owned land. In 2015, WCG will aim to start two new community gardens, but we need your help! WCG and SLCgreen will host two open houses to answer questions and discuss ideas how your support can lead to a new community garden in the following...

In a community divided by age, politics, income, and religion, can we find a common language to bring us together?  In her TED Talk, Pam Warhurst of the Incredible Edible movement says  absolutely- It's called food! In this inspiring talk, she says it's not rock science, it's not clever, and it's certainly not original.  It's just volunteers doing an experiment to address issues in three capacities:  supporting community, supporting education, and supporting businesses, and once you get these three edible plates spinning at the same time, on the smallest of levels, you see great movement occurring in the community. While this movement is taking place in England, we at Wasatch Community Gardens in Salt Lake City subscribe to the same philosophy.  Please take 15 minutes and watch this incredible, inspiring, and encouraging talk, and tell us your thoughts! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KmKoj4RSZw&w=560&h=315]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   September 29, 2014 Contact: Kate Lohnes 801-535-7755 Salt Lake City and Wasatch Community Gardens to Host Community Gardening Open Houses SALT LAKE CITY – The Salt Lake City Division of Sustainability, in partnership with Wasatch Community Gardens, will host a community garden open houses on Thursday, October 2 from 5-7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 18 from 10 a.m. –noon on the first floor of the Salt Lake City & County Building, 451 S. State Street. The public is invited to come and learn about parcels of City-owned and operated land now available for the development of community gardens. Information about the Green City Growers application process and available resources will also be provided. Six designated parcels have been identified for community garden access. Residents are encouraged to review the available parcels on SLCgreen.com and, if interested, to complete an application for the organization and creation of a...

              Whenever I decide to do the "Eat Local Challenge", I quickly become intimidated by the resources online that suggest recipes like "Herbaceous Goat Cheese and Peaches".  I mean, it sounds wonderful, but I just don't live like that.       I live in a world where I am grabbing a PBJ after work before I quickly run out the door to go for a hike or mountain bike ride.  Or inhale some chips and salsa as I am throwing some beers in my bag for an evening chilling with some friends.               In other words, I don't cook.  Or really sit down to eat.  I'm sorry, but that is just how I am.       So, in the past, I have failed at the eat local challenge, because I make it one day and then...