Teacher Spotlight: Lauren Hollis

Interview with Lauren Hollis, a teacher at Clay Academy in St. Louis, MO., about how she personally became involved in the school’s garden. 

Educator Lauren Hollis standing with her class in front of Clay Academy’s gazebo in the school garden.

 

How long have you been gardening personally? How long have you been gardening with students?

Probably just 2 years. My parents have a pretty big garden. My mom just got started gardening but we’re both rookies. We Pinterest a lot of things.

 

Were you hesitant to get outside at first?

For sure. Taking the kids anywhere outside the classroom is a little bit nerve-racking. They have so much room to run and it makes me nervous. But the more you expose them to the outdoors, the more they listen and are familiar with it. I have learned a lot – I give my mom tips now, tried new foods like bok choy.  

I have to be a leader and try what is growing in the garden.  If I don’t try it, the kids are going to just say, “no thanks.”

 

What is your students’ favorite part of gardening?

Exposing them to the outdoors. Getting them to try new foods, teaching them about their environment and what plants and animals need.

 

What is your favorite thing to plant with your students?

Tomatoes because they don’t really try tomatoes for lunch. They are not open to trying tomatoes, sauce, or in the salads at lunch. In the garden, they pick the tomatoes and they eat them just fine. Even if they don’t like them the first time, you let them try the tomatoes again. They still may not like them but they are willing to try them. Even the kale. They wouldn’t eat that normally but they will in the garden.

 

Why do you believe school gardening is important?

Gardens help the students learn more about their environment and learn where their food is from. Not all of their food comes from the grocery store or magically appears. Kids don’t get out very much or get to garden on their own. Gardens help them see a process – a plant growing or a pumpkin decomposing.

 

What do you think teachers need the most in order to garden successfully?

Confidence. In the beginning, I was so scared I was going to kill all the plants. Now I have experience and someone to answer questions. After going to the garden (for the past year) I would totally teach any lesson outside with confidence and not be worried. If I wouldn’t have gone to the garden every Wednesday, that never would have happened. I now can expose them to learning outdoors more.

 

Do you have a favorite garden book?

The Leaf Man. I love reading the story and letting them go find leaves. The things they turn the leaves into, even at this young of an age, is incredible.

 

What are you excited to try this coming growing season?

Plant things that I’ve never heard of or the kids have never heard of. Things that the kids are not exposed to. Next week we’re trying radishes. I am excited for them to try a radish. If they can eat Flaming Hot Cheetos, they can try a spicy radish.

 

What is your advice for other school gardeners?

Have confidence and just get out there. The more you are out there, the better your kids will acclimate to being outside.  They need more exposure to the outdoors than the playground.

 

Looking for more ways to incorporate the school garden into your lesson plan? Stop by:

  • Gateway Greening’s Workshops for Educators page to explore monthly workshops that address the challenges and opportunities represented by teaching in school gardens
  • The Gateway Greening Educators Facebook group to connect with other teachers throughout St. Louis with similar interests in school gardens
  • Check out our In the School Garden Youtube playlist for short, actionable how-to videos that are seasonally relevant.

Engineers in the School Garden

engineers at work
Fourth grade students writing out their hypothesis for a recent experiment. During the experiment, students discovered how cold frames built of different materials affected soil warmth.

Engineer at work!
Fourth Grade Student posing with her structure.

As the weather gets colder, time in the garden gets shorter. However, indoor lessons can still have garden connections! Throughout December, the fourth-graders at Gateway Elementary observed and measured how different materials affected soil warmth. After discovering that cold frames effectively raised the soil temperature, they wanted to engineer their own solutions.

 

To become engineers, the fourth-graders first needed construction materials. Without knowing what they were going to create, the students had just a few minutes to collect natural materials from the school garden. Some groups scooped up as many pebbles as possible while others hunted for a few perfect sticks. Once inside, Gateway Greening Educator Tonia Scherer tasked half the class to create a waterproof structure and the other half to build a sturdy, windproof structure. Some students struggled, while others quickly problem-solved. They realized that certain materials were better for different functions.

 

Soon, the fourth-graders learned that engineers also have to work within constraints. Each group was given only one piece of tape and they had to strategically incorporate it. When it was time to test their structures, many stayed sturdy and dry on the inside. The fourth-graders discussed design and material improvements – just like real engineers. In the end, they related their engineering process to cold frames and designs that help to keep garden soil warm in winter months.

 

Even in the winter, you can discover real-life examples of science lessons. The winter trimester of Gateway Greening’s Seed to STEM fourth-grade curriculum focuses on ecosystem energy flow, engineering solutions, and scientific writing. All three topics combined in the fourth-graders cold frame and engineering experiment. For more winter lesson ideas, check out the Seed to STEM tab on Gateway Greening’s website.

Engineers at work!
Fourth grade students posing with structure they had engineered to withstand wind and water as part of a recent STEM class with Gateway Greening.

Written by School Program Manager Lucy Herleth

Looking for more ways to incorporate the school garden into your lesson plan? Stop by:

  • Gateway Greening’s Workshops for Educators page to explore monthly workshops that address the challenges and opportunities represented by teaching in school gardens
  • The Gateway Greening Educators Facebook group to connect with other teachers throughout St. Louis with similar interests in school gardens
  • Check out our In the School Garden Youtube playlist for short, actionable how-to videos that are seasonally relevant.

Teacher Spotlight: Patti Stogsdill of Patrick Henry Elementary

Patrick Henry Downtown Academy School Garden Expansion 2016

Interview with Patti Stogsdill, preschool teacher at Patrick Henry Elementary in St. Louis MO., about how she personally became involved with the school’s garden.

How long have you been gardening personally, and with your students?

All of my life because I was raised on a farm. However, I have only been gardening at the school since the Fall of 2016. My husband helps the preschoolers and I do a lot of the work.

 

How did you get started with gardening at school?

We had a garden when I first started working [at Patrick Henry Elementary]. The garden was overgrown with weeds and the person that was in charge had been out on medical leave. However, I believe it needed to be used so Patrick Henry put me in charge.

 

What is the most worthwhile part of school gardening?

Seeing the kids’ joy when they’re out [in the garden]. The teachers don’t utilize it as much as I wish they would but when they do come out and take advantage of the garden they realize how exciting it is.

 

What is your favorite thing to plant with your students?

Sunflower seeds.

 

What do teachers need the most in order to use a school garden successfully?

Just be convinced that it is a worthwhile process. They need a lesson plan that gives them ideas and need to see for themselves how beneficial it is for the children.

 

What are you excited to try/do this coming growing season?

I am excited to try and use cattle fencing to keep our tomatoes from drooping.

 

What is your best garden tip?

Borax and sugar to keep ants away from your plants.

 

Interview with Allison Berndt, Education Intern at Gateway Greening, in Fall of 2017.

 

Looking for more ways to incorporate the school garden into your lesson plan? Stop by:

  • Gateway Greening’s Workshops for Educators page to explore monthly workshops that address the challenges and opportunities represented by teaching in school gardens
  • The Gateway Greening Educators Facebook group to connect with other teachers throughout St. Louis with similar interests in school gardens
  • Check out our In the School Garden Youtube playlist for short, actionable how-to videos that are seasonally relevant.

Winter Planning: Exciting Plants to Try Next Spring

Though the 2017 growing season may be over, winter is no time to sleep on preparing for your garden. One of the most important aspects of planning for spring is deciding which plants to grow. Below we provide recommendations from knowledgeable Gateway Greening staff so that your garden can thrive!

 

Perennial Produce

Asparagus is a great choice for a St. Louis garden.

If you have not heard about the many benefits of perennial plants, consider this your wake up call. Perennials can reduce the amount of time spent planting in the spring and are often quite hardy.

Some great choices for St. Louis, according to our Garden Program Manager, Dean Gunderson, are: 

Sorrel –A tangy green that kids love, sorrel is a perennial that thrives in the St. Louis region. It can be used as either an herb or green and is ready to harvest in early spring, making it a great way to start the growing season.

Asparagus –Though asparagus can take a year or two to establish, once it does it will produce delicious food for years to come.

Read more about edible perennials that grow well in St. Louis here.

 

Varieties That Thrive in St. Louis

Missouri Pink Love Apple Tomatoes

Jackson Hambrick, Garden Project Manager at Gateway Greening, has a lot of experience finding varieties of common vegetables that thrive in St. Louis. Through trial and error, he has found that the examples below embrace the extreme temperatures and unreliable precipitation of the region.

Malabar Spinach –Though the name suggests otherwise, this plant is not actually a spinach. Unlike classic spinach, malabar spinach does quite well with the humidity and heat of summer in St. Louis.

Lettuce ‘Muir’ –“This is the most heat tolerant lettuce I have come across. It can easily handle the large temperature swings of St. Louis springs and can be grown under cover during the early summer,” Jackson said.

Missouri Pink Love Apple Tomato –If you are looking for a gorgeous tomato to add color to your garden, this variety is a great choice. It is a Missouri heirloom and when taken care of, it will thrive in the St. Louis region.

 

Try Something New

Roselle –Roselle is a species of hibiscus that is native to West Africa. It is used to make hibiscus beverages and preserves. While a perennial in warmer climates, in the St. Louis area it is

Okra thrives during hot Missouri summers.

cultivated as an annual.

Storage Tomatoes –If you ever wish for home grown tomatoes long after the growing season, storage tomatoes are a perfect choice. When they are picked green, they will ripen over the course of weeks and can stay delicious for weeks beyond that, depending on the specific variety.

Okra –Though okra is a widely recognized vegetable, it is not always common in community gardens. It is a great choice for St. Louis because it loves our hot summers! It also produces beautiful flowers that can be used in arrangements.

Ground Cherries –If you are looking for a slightly sweet and low maintenance choice for your garden, ground cherries will fit the bill. They are in the same genus as tomatillos and could be mistaken for them because of the papery husks that they are covered in. They are great to mix in salsas and pies and also make a delicious jam.

 

Do you have a favorite plant that does not get enough love in the St. Louis region? Or have you been meaning to try something new but have not been able to plant it yet? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter or email! We would love to hear about your garden experiments and plans.

Experiments in the Demonstration Garden: Potato Towers

This blog is the third of a three-part series.

Potato Tower Experiment
Garden Intern Clara and Demonstration Garden Volunteer Theresa preparing to fill potato towers with soil and compost. Potato tower experiement, spring 2017.

 

Building from Blogs

After reading several gardening blogs which enthusiastically endorsed potato towers in spring but never followed up to share how the towers had performed post-harvest time, the staff of Gateway Greening decided to put this technique to the test. Our goal was to see if potato towers are an effective method of vertically growing sweet potatoes as a way to maximize growing space in the home or community garden.

 

Limited Resources, Limited Testing

Although our staff originally planned to test this method using three towers of various heights and widths, we scaled the experiment back to create just one tower due to soil availability. (At Potato Tower Experimentthe end of the day, expanding school and community gardens comes first. Experiments in the Demonstration Garden come second.)

The potato tower we constructed is close to six feet tall. Built around an irrigation tube (PVC pipe with holes drilled into it) and lined with burlap, Demonstration Garden intern Clara and volunteer Theresa filled the tower with thin, alternating layers of topsoil and compost. Next, small holes were cut into the sides of the tower at regular intervals for sweet potato slips to be tucked in.

Over the course of the summer, volunteers and staff carefully watered the tower by spraying down the burlap sides and also by using a hose to run water through the irrigation tube. Little by little, the slips began to flush out into vines and flourish.

 

Did it Work?

Although several sweet potatoes were harvested from the tower this fall, Garden Program Manager Dean Gunderson has decided to repeat this experiment again next summer. Technically the experiment was a success – but there was definite room for improvement.

 

Potato Tower Experiment
Volunteers from Nike, and Eco Constructors helped to harvest sweet potatoes from our experimental growing towers. The harvest may only have been 30 pounds, but it was certainly fun!

 

When we constructed our potato towers, we made a fundamental mistake: we planted the tower with sweet potato slips shortly after it was constructed. Throughout the summer the layers of soil and compost settled significantly, damaging the delicate sweet potato slips and their root structures.

As a result, we harvested few sweet potatoes and they seemed to be quite small, as though stunted early on. Our volunteers also observed that all of slips planted in the lower half of the tower died, and suggested that the sheer weight of the soil above prevented the potatoes from establishing below.

 

Potato Tower Experiment Planning for 2018

In 2018, Demonstration Garden staff and volunteers will be repeating the potato tower experiment with the original (now settled) tower and a second tower that will be shorter in size for comparison. Keep an eye out for photos and updates next spring!

 

To learn more about experiments that happened in the Demonstration Garden in 2017, please check out our Garden Soxx Experiment and 45 Degree Angle Trellis Experiment blogs.

Experiments in the Demonstration Garden: 45 Degree Trellis

This is blog two of a three-part series.

45 Degree Trellis Experiment

March in the Demonstration Garden. The 45-degree angle trellis was built over an existing raised bed, seen here full of winter cover crops.

 

One of the challenges of growing food in an urban environment is not only finding a space to start a garden, but also clean soil to grow food in. As a result, Gateway Greening is always looking for new ways to make the most of our available space.

 

Growing Up

Last summer, Garden Program Manager Dean Gunderson decided to tackle the 45-degree angle trellis. The concept is fairly simple. Instead of using a shade cloth to cover and protect vulnerable cool season crops, he would build a trellis and grow a vining plant across it. If it worked, the cool season crops would be protected by the leaves of the vine above, and would result in twice the harvest amount from the one growing space.

To start, Dean and long-time volunteer John Newman teamed up to design and build the trellis using spare lumber and cattle panel.

The hardest part [of building the trellis] was figuring out how to stabilize the flexible cattle panel and how to attach the legs to it since it was narrower than our wide [garden] beds. – Dean Gunderson, Garden Program Manager.

In the end, Dean and John built a wooden frame to support a single length of cattle panel and attached wooden legs to the sides for support. By varying the lengths of the wooden legs, they were able to create the desired 45-degree angle.

 

Planting for Harvest & Feedback

In the spring cabbage, broccoli, and other cool season crops were planted in the raised bed below the trellis. These are crops that often die off as summer arrives, and would be effective indicators of how well the experiment worked. A few weeks later, volunteers planted four tromboncino squash plants at the low end of the trellis to be the “shade vine.”

This experiment was particularly fun to watch. Unfortunately, the squash’s growth did not take off until summer heat hit, meaning it was not able to provide significant protection for the spring cool season crops. However, once the heat hit the tromboncino squash plants grew at staggering speeds, creating a shady nook in no time. More than one Saturday volunteer and staff member observed that it was a perfect place for a yoga mat and a nap!

 

45 Degree Angle Trellis Experiment
Tromboncino squash taking over the 45-degree angle trellis in August of 2017.

 

Although it did not provide adequate cover in spring, the squash was more than able to provide cover for fall cool season crops. As a result, volunteers were able to plant carrots, cabbage, and a few other fall crops earlier than we typically would. The harvest from these crops was smaller than anticipated, but we suspect that was due to a lack of sunlight – the tromboncino squash vines really took off!

 

Our Recommendation:

Using vining plants in place of shade cloths can be an effective method of maximizing space while still protecting cool season crops, however, it does require extra management. Choose vining plants that will grow and provide shade at the time you need it most. For some of the more aggressive growers, make time to prune away excess vines to permit adequate sunlight to reach crops below.

 

Fun fact: Saturday volunteers harvested 263.45 pounds of tromboncino squash from the trellis experiment this summer. That’s 263.45 pounds harvest in just three months!

 

To learn more about experiments that happened in the Demonstration Garden in 2017, please check out our Garden Soxx Experiment and Potato Tower Experiment blogs.

Experiments in the Demonstration Garden: Garden Soxx

This blog is part of a three-part series. 

Joe Maddox of Eco Constructors and local artist Steve Ingraham spent a morning helping to set up our two of our 2017 experiments: Garden Soxx and Potato Towers.

 

“I wish I could garden at home but…”

One of the most common phrases I hear from volunteers helping in the Demonstration Garden on Saturdays is: “I wish I could garden at home, but I live in an apartment.” On the other hand, we have several older individuals who tell us they “miss gardening but I just can’t bend over to pull weeds anymore.”

At Gateway Greening, we believe that gardening should be accessible to everyone so when an opportunity to test a new container gardening product came up, we took it!

 

Beginning the Garden Soxx Experiment

Thanks to a donation by Eco Constructors, a local business that specializes in sustainable, low-impact erosion control products, Gateway Greening received several Garden Soxx to test. These short tubes are made using a special mesh filled with organic growing medium from St. Louis Composting, and weigh about 30 pounds each when dry. Our goal was to see if Garden Soxx could be an effective method for container gardening in urban spaces.

 

Pole beans sprouting during the Garden Soxx Experiment at the Demonstration Garden in Summer of 2017.

 

For our Garden Soxx experiment, we placed several tubes along the edge of a brick patio in the Demonstration Garden. By doing so, we hoped to create conditions similar to an apartment balcony or concrete patio. One placed, staff and volunteers planted a small variety of crops commonly found in both home and community gardens: chives, purple basil, three different varieties of hot peppers, pole beans, and radishes.

Planting was a breeze. Using a small pocket knife, we made holes in the mesh fabric that were just big enough for our seeds and seedlings to fit inside. For the seedlings, we scooped out a small amount of growing medium to make space for the root systems. The extra medium was gently packed around and over the seedling’s roots to stabilize and protect the plant while it got established.

Throughout the summer volunteers and staff vigilantly watered the plants several times a week using a garden hose or watering can. Thanks to the mesh tube, we saw very little soil run-off and overwatering was impossible. Excess water simply ran out!

Before long, we started harvesting a small amount of produce from the chives, basil, and each of the hot pepper plants. Unfortunately, the resident rabbits made a feast of our pole beans shortly after germination, and our fall crop of radishes did not germinate – likely due to dry conditions.

 

A mix of basil, hot pepper varieties, and poles beans in Garden Soxx on the Demonstration Garden Patio in Spring of 2017.

 

Did it Work?

Overall, the Garden Soxx were an effective method for container gardening in an urban space, but they did present a few challenges as the season wore on.

Firstly, that the Garden Soxx needed almost constant watering during dry spells and the height of summer heat. With their sunny location and lack of wind protection on the edge of the patio, the Garden Soxx were prone to drying out quickly which stressed the plants. The second challenge was that the Garden Soxx needed a few applications of organic fertilizer throughout the summer to support ongoing food production.

 

Our Recommendation:

Garden Soxx would be ideal for someone looking to grow annual vegetables or flowers with shallow root systems on a balcony or raised patio. Gardeners using Garden Soxx should be prepared to water regularly, and add small amounts of fertilizer as needed. Want to check out Garden Soxx first hand? Stop by the Carriage House during the growing season in 2018!

To learn more about experiments that happened in the Demonstration Garden in 2017, please check out our 45 Degree Angle Trellis Experiment and Potato Tower Experiment blogs.

Urban Agriculture Challenges and Solutions: Part 3

This is the third in a series of articles about the challenges gardeners and farmers have faced while working in an urban area, as well as the solutions they have come up with in the face of these issues. Read the previous posts from the series here and here

House of Living Stone community garden.

A Skeptical Gardener

Allison Reed was skeptical about joining a community garden. Mostly because she hates bugs. Especially mosquitoes.

But when Florida Cargill, garden leader of House of Living Stone community garden, asked her if she wanted a garden bed two years ago, Allison decided to give it a try.

She still hates bugs, but has found an enjoyable hobby in community gardening. She even calls it one of the most relaxing hobbies that one can have. Planting citronella plants in her garden beds has also helped keep the bugs off of her when she comes to tend to her plants during summer evenings.

House of Living Stone 

Garden on a hill.

House of Living Stone community garden was founded in 2011 and is part of the First Baptist Church of Webster Groves. The name, which often draws interest, is based on the bible verse 1 Peter 2:5. According to Florida, the verse is about Christ talking to Peter about how believers are the living stones of a church.

The garden’s relationship with the First Baptist Church of Webster Groves means that it is used quite often for bible studies and events. It functions as a community space where members of the church can meet while enjoying the striking beauty of the garden.

And striking it is. When I first visited the garden on a September evening, the sun was just beginning to cast light through the trees. The garden, which is set atop a steep hill, features a variety of flowers and a small orchard and seems to welcome visitors in with its many benches and picnic tables.

 

Colorful pavestones.

Children in the Garden

One of the unique components of the House of Living Stone community garden is the emphasis on making the space a welcoming place for children.

At one edge of the garden, there is a patio area made of many painted concrete pavestones. The pavestones were painted by children of First Baptist Church of Webster Groves and feature bright designs, names, and references to biblical stories. The paintings were designed to celebrate the church’s 150th anniversary and several of the pavestones have images of large birthday cakes as a result.

The garden also has a bed for children to plant various vegetables and flowers. This past summer, it held sweet potatoes and marigolds.

Florida and other garden members work hard to ensure that the garden is a place where children can come to play and enjoy its many wonders.

 

Problems and Solutions 

Fence around a garden bed.

The garden is undoubtedly a haven, which is made obvious as soon as you climb to the top of the hill where it sits and take in the view around it. But, like many community gardens, it experiences both environmental and involvement challenges.

This past summer, the garden’s biggest problem has been moles and groundhogs. The gardeners tried building fences made of chicken wire around their garden beds. The makeshift fences worked at first but half-chewed sweet potato leaves made it obvious that the problem required more action. Some of the gardeners eventually built a cage made of chicken wire around their garden bed. This prevented any critters from climbing in and making a meal out of growing vegetables.

House of Living Stone Community Garden, like many others, has also experienced periods of low membership and engagement.

Florida said that she keeps an eye on the garden beds and reaches out to members to ask them if they need anything if it seems like they are having trouble making it to the garden.

She also credits continued membership to the enthusiasm of the pastor of First Baptist Church of Webster Groves.

Cage around a garden bed.

“He always tells people about the garden and how to get involved and makes sure to announce events there at church meetings,” Florida said.

The garden’s strong connection to the church has meant that excess produce has a convenient place to be donated. The church has a food outreach ministry that provides supplemental meals to those in need.

 

Something New

The garden is a unique entity. A place of calm in a city that teems with life. It provides both respite and a place to challenge oneself.

“Planting something new every year is fun. I just like to see if I can grow something different,” Allison said.

I entered the garden stressed from traffic and honking horns. But as I walk down the hill the garden sits on, the light slanting low, I feel a sense of calm that was not there before.

Written by Mallory Brown, Communications & Fundraising AmeriCorps VISTA

Field Trips & Tours

Gateway Greening Demonstration Garden, Spring of 2016.

 

Explore the Demonstration Garden!

The Gateway Greening Demonstration Garden is open to the public every Saturday from 9 AM – Noon throughout the growing season. However, free guided tours that explore the garden’s history, existing infrastructure, and current garden experiments are only available to the general public three times a year:

Demonstration Garden Tour: Spring
March 17th, 2018
10 – 11 AM

 

Demonstration Garden Tour: Summer
July 21st, 2018
10 – 11 AM

 

Demonstration Garden Tour: Fall
September 22nd, 2018
10 – 11 AM

 

There is no registration or RSVP required to participate in the above mentioned tours, however, it is recommended that attendees arrive 10 minutes early as the tour will begin at 10 AM sharp.

 
 

Schedule a Tour

Groups may schedule a guided tour of the Gateway Greening Demonstration Garden or other requested location by contacting us at [email protected]. There is a fee of $5 per participant for scheduled tours.

 

 For youth field trip and tour information, please visit our Youth Education page here.

Garden to Food Pantry

If you stopped by the Demonstration Garden this spring, you may have met Myra Rosenthal, a long time Gateway Greening volunteer and Garden Leader of the Garden of Eden at the JCC. Recently, we caught up with Myra to learn more about the Garden of Eden’s unique mission: providing her local food pantry with fresh garden produce.

Organic Beginnings

“You know, it wasn’t difficult [to start a garden] and it evolved organically (pardon the pun).  Many people have gardens in their homes and bring excess produce to the pantry.  For years my husband has always taken his extra tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers there.  Jewish congregations in the St. Louis area have donation bins solely for the purpose of collecting food for the pantry.” – Myra Rosenthal, Garden Leader at the Garden of Eden

Volunteers and garden members building new raised beds and planting berms at the Garden of Eden as part of their Gateway Greening Garden Expansion Award in 2014.

 

Founded in 2011 with the goal of providing fresh produce to the local Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, the Garden of Eden has grown considerably from its humble beginnings.

Open four days a week, the Garden of Eden is located on a corner of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center property and currently has more than 4,000 square feet of growing space in the form of raised planting berms and beds. A portion of the garden is reserved for the use of nearby Covenant Place residents, many of whom are immigrants or refugees.

With the combined effort of long-time gardeners, individual and group volunteers, and even a few cheery day camp participants, the Garden of Eden was able to grow and donate more than 3,700 pounds of food to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry in 2016 alone.

Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry

Garden of Eden
Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry during a 2017 tour given to Gateway Greening staff.

Started in 1991, the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Service, originally operated out of a single room on a shoestring budget, serving no more than 40 families. Since then the food pantry has grown considerably. Today it is a designated USDA food pantry affiliated with the St. Louis Area Foodbank and Operation Food Search, and serves more than 6,500 people each month, making it one of the largest food pantries in the region.

During a recent visit to the food pantry to learn more about how community gardeners can support their local pantries, Gateway Greening staff Erin Wood and Mallory Brown were deeply impressed by the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry’s commitment to alleviating hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. The staff and volunteers of the pantry make every effort to accommodate special dietary needs, providing kosher, halal, gluten-free, and diabetic friendly options for their guests as much as possible.

When asked how the Garden of Eden decides what to grow in the garden each year, Myra’s response was candid: “Well, we got smart.  Eventually.  When we first started, that is, in our first year, we went to a local gardening store and we thought, ‘Oh, this plant looks good.  We’ll buy it.’  ‘Oh, look, this is interesting.  Let’s get it.’  ‘Oh, this herb is soooo cute.  We’ll grow this.’  Then somewhere in the middle of the summer, I remember thinking, ‘Is that what the clients of the food pantry want?’  So the next time I went to the pantry I asked.  I was stunned when I was told the clients in the pantry had no use for herbs.  They wanted simple, sustainable food.  They didn’t want anything fancy.  That’s when I learned we don’t grow what WE want.  We grow what THEY, the clients of the food pantry, want.”

Garden to Food Pantry - fresh harvest ready for donation!
Harvest from the Garden of Eden, cleaned, weighed, and ready to be donated to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry (2014).

Visiting the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry is much like visiting a corner grocery store, as the pantry has moved to a “Client Choice” model. Using this model, guests are encouraged to explore the items and select foods which their families will use at home, up to a certain amount based on the number of people in their household. Judy Berkowitz, Director of the food pantry, explains that this model is more flexible than the traditional ‘bagged’ method, allowing individuals to meet their dietary needs while still embracing differences in food culture among their diverse guest base.

Myra shared that it is sometimes challenging to grow for such a diverse community, but most of the time – it isn’t. Despite not being familiar with crops like okra and collard greens, Myra chose to grow them because they went over well with the clients. “We are a multicultural country anyway and we should try other’s foods.  Come to think of it, the clients at the food pantry are multinational.  Some are from Asia, Russia, the Ukraine, and the Middle East.  What’s odd or unusual to us may not be to them and they gladly take.”

 

Community Garden Challenges

When asked about challenges faced by gardening, Myra states: “Gardens are gardens.  I’ve never met a productive vegetable garden that looks like a set for a magazine or a tv show.  Even the vegetable garden in Orange Is the New Black looks a zillion times better than ours.  And there’s a dead body buried in it!  I have had to deal with dismissive comments of people who think we should look weed free, lush and beautiful.  I think we spend an inordinate amount of time on weeding and other tasks so that the garden looks at least decent to ordinary passersby.  But, then, to be fair, we chose not to have a fence.  That was deliberate.  In the Bible, farmers are commanded to leave part of their fields for the poor to glean.  We do the same.”

Beyond the weeds, the Garden of Eden faces other challenges that many St. Louis community gardens can relate to: the struggle to find continuous funding, engaged volunteers and new garden members, as well as materials being stolen or vandalized. And perhaps the most devastating of all – the occasional crop failure.

Garden to Food Pantry - donation day!
Garden of Eden garden leaders Myra Rosenthal and Linda Kram donating fresh produce from the garden to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry in 2014.

 

Guide to Growing for Food Pantries

Interested in sharing the bounty from your personal or community garden with a local food pantry? Myra shares a few insights:

  • Food pantries are as varied and unique as the communities they serve. Some will have refrigerators and freezers available for storing excess food, and some will not. Although most will take fresh foods that will last for at least a few days, some pantries will only accept boxed and canned goods.
  • Open Hours: Learn when the food pantry is open, and call ahead to see when they accept donations. Many rely on volunteers and may only have the capacity to accept and process your gift on certain days.
  • Visit your food pantry! Knowing how a pantry operates, and what its specific needs are, will empower you to make informed decisions about what will and will not be helpful to the food pantry.
  • Always respect the privacy of the guests of the food pantry. Ask the food pantry staff if there are any guidelines you should be following when making a donation.
  • People who are food insufficient are reluctant to try new items, and many do not have measuring cups, baking equipment, or easy access to the internet to search for recipes. When possible, keep your food donations simple and basic. When growing for a pantry, always ask what foods will be most helpful.
  • Always clean the food before making a donation! Food pantries have a lot of work to accomplish and often have limited manpower to do it all. Food safety is paramount when providing food for others, and providing clean food ensures it ends up on the shelves quicker.
  • Call ahead and let the food pantry know that you are harvesting for them or plan to make a donation on a certain day. This simple courtesy is anything but, as it allows the pantry to make changes as needed to meet the needs of its guests.

 

The Garden of Eden was a veritable bounty of diverse crops during a mid-summer visit in 2017, all destined for the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry.