Agriculture isn’t limited to rural areas… the school and community garden movement is flourishing on the Southcoast and interest in urban agriculture continues to grow in the region.
Soil Remediation 101 Tip Sheet (including resource links)
Interested in school garden development?
A list of school garden resources to assist your planning.
Brix Bounty farm offers consulting and learning opportunities for those involved with the community and school garden movement. Our free Roots Down organic gardening sessions provide garden planning tips which are relevant to gardens of all sizes. On March 19th, 2011 we offered a teacher training with Friends Academy in Dartmouth. See our Events page for details.
Trade Your Foodmiles for Foodsteps – Local Food, Urban Agriculture, and Food Systems at the Crossroads:
“I would hope that we can move along a continuum to make sure that all of citizens have access to the same fresh, safe, affordable good food regardless of their cultural, social or economic situation.” Growing Power’s Will Allen offers a Food Manifesto for America
- Quick – Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) – 6 Basic Principals of Community Food Security
- Intermediate – Michael Pollan’s 2008 NY Times article Farmer-in-Chief or for those who are inclined toward television instead of print – Bill Moyer’s Interview with Michael Pollan.
- Deep – Report: The Food and Farming Transition – Toward a Post Carbon Food System published by the Post Carbon Institute – Richard Heinberg’s organization focusing on peak energy
School Garden Resources
See our Farm&Garden Resource Page for tip sheets on small scale food production, including our list of Garden Education Resources.
- Getting Started – a Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms published by the Center for Ecoliteracy, which is “dedicated to education for sustainable living.”
- Nourish: What’s the Story of Your Food is a new middle-school curriculum guide which is connected with a pbs presentation and media/education initiative.
- Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, Rhode Island produced this 2 page brochure: Growing Healthy Food with a Lead Free Garden.
- Planning on building a raised bed? The ENACT Project in Tiverton and Brown University published this quick and easy Raised Bed Garden 101 pamphlet.
- Two local organizations of note who are focusing on school gardens: the Marion Institute’s Seed to Table Initiative and The Children’s Garden Network.
- Mass Ag. in the Classroom hosts a Winter Conference for Educators every year; this year’s conference is scheduled for March 12th, 2011 in Ludlow, MA
- EPA Brownfields & Urban Agriculture Reuse Webinars were archived from the fall 2010. The EPA plans to release to the public the results of their Midwestern Summit focusing on urban agriculture in 2011.
- Check out Kitchen Gardeners International’s February 2011 newsletter focusing on School Gardens.
Here is a partial list of Community and Educational Gardens in the Greater New Bedford Area from the Summer 2009.
Southcoast Community Gardens Coalition
Join us for the next scheduled Southcoast Community Gardens Coalition meeting at 4PM on Tuesday February 22nd as part of the Voices for a Healthy Southcoast meeting at the Corson Maritime Learning Center in New Bedford. For details please call the farm or email derek. For reference: Community Garden Visioning Session Oct 2008 and notes from the Community Gardens Coalition Feb 3 2010 meeting.