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Vermont Community Garden Network (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
To give residents access to fresh produce, the Vermont Community Garden Network installed garden beds at two affordable housing complexes in St. Johnsbury and Newport. Over several building days, volunteers worked to clear old wood and debris, cut boards to construct the raised beds, fill them with soil and plant garlic bulbs for residents to harvest in the spring. To ensure the crop's success, they also held a demonstration to teach residents how to plant, care for and harvest garlic. In addition to improving residents' physical health through nutritious food, organizers say the gardens will support mental health, too, by combating social isolation. The Network continues to host workshops and provide seeds, tools and other support to gardeners at both housing complexes.
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See More Projects Like This One
Windham, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The project will create a community gardening program to help older adults grow food locally. It will enrich the design of a new green space at a senior center and will provide tools and weekly group sessions led by a master gardener.
Spokane, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will add 12 raised beds to an existing community garden and donate surplus produce to a local senior center and a church.
Hudson, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Nashua has a large migrant population from Zambia, Burundi and Honduras, many of were farmers in their native counties. The ReGeerative Roots Association hoped to give them the opportunity to use their skills in their new home. The organization's ReGen Roots program, which provides free community garden plots to immigrant families. To give more families the opportunity to grow culturally familiar foods, this project expanded the garden's footprint by two acres. Participants can sell any extra produce, supplementing their household income. Additionally, community garden members donate ten percent of their peak harvest to two nonprofits that combat food insecurity in Nashua.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Lyndon, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will enhance Bandstand Park by adding a pollinator garden, vine trellis, and wheelchair-accessible picnic tables. This will improve accessibility, provide comfortable seating, and create an intergenerational space.
Wheelock, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Walkability
Description: This project will conduct three walk audits along a busy route in Wheelock Village to identify walking hazards and potential crosswalk locations and then share results at a community meeting that will be open to residents, business owners and local officials.
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