Fostering connections among members of the Santa Cruz community
Hello everyone. I’m Mary and I’m really glad to be here talking to you but also very nervous. I don’t have much experience being a public speaker and I’m kinda shy until you get to know me. So this is kind of a big deal. I came to HGP when it was still a three year program, and I’ll be …
When people ask me what is the best thing they can do to improve their diet, my answer is always the same: to cook at home more often. It isn’t to exclude sugar, wheat, gluten, or dairy, to eat more leafy greens… While all of those might be helpful, I think the best place to start is by getting to …
The training program at the Homeless Garden Project serves as a principle mechanism to ensure HGP achieves our mission, which states “in the soil of our urban farm and garden, people find the tools they need to build a home in the world”. In interviewing prospective trainees, our staff looks at three central qualifying features in a candidate. A candidate …
Got Kale? Here are some fantastic Kale recipes from the 2013 Kalefest Recipe Contest and Cooking Demos–check back; there are more coming! Nibby Bartle’s Award-Winning Sweet Kale Chips Ingredients:1 bunch kale3/4 cup nuts (walnuts or almonds are good) 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp cinnamon Directions:Tear Kale into bite size pieces. Mix in food processor everything but kale, then mix this …
As HGP gears up for a screening of A Place at the Table, we want to give you some background information on the Community Food Security movement and its origins. Andy Fisher created and publicized the concept of community food security and played a key role in building the community food movement. From 1994 to 2011, he led the Community Food …
In recent months, public concern about safety has increasingly zeroed in on Santa Cruz’s homeless population. Sadly, this attention has focused on reducing support for vulnerable groups and pushing unhoused people out of community spaces rather than addressing the root causes of homelessness – low wages, unemployment and underemployment, a chronic shortage of affordable housing, complex and often untreated health …
Probably the most inspiring and meaningful achievements at Homeless Garden Project are from our trainees. Here is a listing from our trainees about what they personally accomplished by participating in HGP’s transitional employment program in 2012. I’m now living indoors. I’m renting a room in a house, as of January 2013. I started a second job at a nonprofit in …
Every day, we are reminded that our work at the Homeless Garden Project is about growth. One of our core values is, “We value the capacity of every individual for growth and renewal.” It’s a tiny word packed with meaning. Below are some thoughts about growth—from famous and less well-known thinkers. We’d like to hear from you: what does “Growth” …
I interviewed Danny at HGP’s Natural Bridges Farm last summer. Danny welcomed me to the Farm and explained his work crew and their role on the Farm. His crew prepares and cares for vegetable beds and the animals. As we painted row markers and sifted compost together we talked. After work hours we continued our conversation under a giant pine tree. …
Here is the story that Joan shared with Michael Pollan after he toured the farm. She was very brave to write it and speak it, and that courage was palpable when she shared. Later, Raphael, an accomplished SJSU film student, made a video chronicling the transition of trainees from farm to workshop with Joan’s story narrating. Watch the Video: Nourishing Soil “The …
