Square Foot Gardening
As UCOM’s first project in our Growing Green Neighbors initiative, the Square Foot Gardening program is intended to help members of our community become more self-sustaining.
Gardeners are given a 4x4 raised garden box along with soil and seeds. The boxes are sectioned into 16 one foot squares and program participants choose 16 crops, including up to four trellised plants, to grow in their gardens. Clients are able to select from plants that grow well in these types of garden boxes.
What can people Grow? Here are just a few examples:
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Carrots
- Beets
- Okra
- Lettuce
- Onions
- And many more!
Growing Green Neighbors gardeners also attend a monthly meeting hosted at UCOM where they learn from master gardeners, farmers, agriculture educators, and each other. These meetings offer our gardeners the opportunity to ask questions and receive helpful tips and advice, but they also provide a sense of community as many gardeners from previous years return to share their experiences with the newbies. Gardeners also bring a dish to pass at each meeting, oftentimes consisting of food grown in their own garden.
Each Garden box, including the seeds, soil, and transplants costs $100. However, our community gardeners pay only a small deposit which is refunded upon attending a set number of community meetings. We are able to offer this awesome service to our neighbors because of the tremendous support of our donors and the generous gifts of our funders.
If you would like to be involved in the Growing Green Neighbors program as a volunteer, a donor, or even a participant please contact us.
To see more pictures and stay updated as the seasons change, check out our Facebook page!
