people's garden

The People’s Garden Initiative and Keep America Beautiful are asking Americans to join us in supporting local ecosystems by planting species native to their area this fall. The first ever National Planting Day will take place on Saturday, September 8 and will continue with activities happening through November 30.

USDA employees at the Tipton Service Center in Iowa are making impressive contributions to this year’s Feds Feed Families campaign. USDA Rural Development employee Mike Boyle reported food donations exceeding 750 pounds for the month of June and 1,760 pounds in July - just a portion of what is expected to be distributed throughout Tipton and surrounding eastern Iowa communities as part of the food drive this summer.

In my first interview I talked about the design and construction of the People’s Garden shed located at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the importance of using reclaimed materials. The shed also includes a variety of environmentally-friendly features such as a green roof and rain barrel. Visitors are asking how a green roof and rain barrel are built, and what environmental benefits they provide. I talked with Edward Murtagh, Sustainable Operations Manager in USDA’s Office of Operations about the addition of a green roof and rain barrel to the shed.

Wednesday was opening day of the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall.  The Festival features three great themes.  One of the themes entitled “Campus and Community” is a program that commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Land grant universities and the USDA. The People’s Garden Initiative is thrilled to have an exhibition in the Reinventing Agriculture area of Campus and Community. Please stop by to see it and talk gardening with USDA’s Executive Master Gardeners! Like us, universities from across the country are demonstrating how they engage communities through gardening. The Festival runs June 27 to July 1 and July 4-8 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Having two small active kids who are happily prone to drinking water and low-fat milk 99% of the time and who also love to eat nutritious foods (not quite like their mom), I was particularly excited to celebrate opening day of the USDA Farmers Market.

Kids and families are invited to join staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture People’s Garden Initiative on Friday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the opening of the USDA Farmers Market as well as discover fun ways to Grow Healthy, Eat Healthy & Be Healthy! It will be a day filled with hands-on activities that will help enhance your commitment to healthy eating and 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

To help celebrate USDA’s 150th anniversary which was on May 15th, USDA Rural Development employee Mike Boyle (left in photo) and community volunteer Josh Meier, planted special heirloom “Abraham Lincoln” tomatoes at Hardacre Community Garden in Tipton, Iowa.

Tipton’s Hardacre Community Garden was recognized as a USDA “People’s Garden” in 2009.  The public is welcome to see this People’s Garden on Saturday, June 9th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Today USDA commemorates its much talked about 150th Anniversary and there is no better way for the People’s Garden Initiative to celebrate than to plant history.

Throughout 2012, in conjunction with the Department-wide celebration, People’s Gardens around the globe are growing Tomato ‘Abraham Lincoln’ as a living tribute to our founder – Abraham Lincoln. It’s an effort which reminds us that for generations, Americans have joined together to garden for a cause.

Many children believe their food comes from the grocery store. But a class of 23 Mississippi second-graders knows better than that – the delicious food they love starts with a seed.

Students from Madison Avenue Elementary visited a new People’s Garden at an office of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and planted seeds of squash, watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber and, of course, the “Abraham Lincoln” tomato.

A classroom floor becomes a garden as 2^nd graders at Hiawatha Elementary in Webster, Iowa decide which of their favorite fruits and vegetables will be planted in their school garden. Gathered in anticipation around a rectangle that represents the actual size of the garden bed, their teacher skillfully guides the planning, helping them consider which plants will thrive in Iowa’s climate, which plants require more or less sun, and which plants will be compatible neighbors.

Along the way, the teacher introduces math concepts – deftly integrating her classroom lessons into a real world experience. Soon the students will be planting this garden for real - just as they have planned it - as will 4,000 other youth in 57 schools in Iowa, Arkansas, New York and Washington participating in Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth (HGHY), a project of the People’s Garden School Pilot Project.