Grow Your Own Food

In the spring of 2019, the San Juan WSU Master Gardeners launched a pilot program
called Grow Your Own Food. Eleven adults and fourteen children visited the WSU Master Gardener Demonstration Garden, located on the Mullis Senior Center
property and Joyce Sobel Family Resource Center in Friday Harbor to learn how to
grow their own food.

Over the four-week pilot program participants learned:

• How to select a site with sun
• To consider their soil types
• What their family likes to eat
• How to encourage children to eat fresh vegetables

Hands-on activities included transplanting vegetable starts, fertilizing, weeding, slug
control, and watering. Each family received a container garden with vegetable plants to take home, garden gloves, and a binder with gardening resources and recipes. A bi-lingual volunteer was part of the program to help with translation as needed.

The spark for the program originated with the desire to provide an opportunity for families to grow and eat fresh vegetables. A needs assessment determined the barriers that families face growing food and guided the development of the program’s curriculum. Access to garden space, the cost of water, deer, little
gardening experience, and not knowing which crops grow in the islands’ climate
were identified and addressed in the curriculum.

After the program concluded, participants said they learned how to prepare soil for
planting, care for vegetable plants, and encourage their children to eat more fresh vegetables at home. Several participants have since said the program encouraged them to grow a garden at home, which they would not have done otherwise.

The pilot program was organized and funded by the WSU Master Gardener Program, the Joyce Sobel Family Resource Center, and the San Juan County Health and Nutrition program. 

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