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city sprouts 2017 Season Reflections sustaining communities through gardening since 1995

CITY SPROUTS COMMUNITY GARDEN City Sprouts Community Garden the taproot of our organization has served our community since 1995 With 45 raised beds families come together to garden and grow a healthier community We work with over 1000 volunteers each year to maintain the garden and to make the space a welcoming environment for all who visit It is also home to our Little Sprouts youth garden program and host to a variety of workshops throughout the seasons LITTLE FREE LIBRARY PANTRY New in 2017 is our Little Free Library Pantry which invites our gardeners and neighbors to share their abundance and enjoy a good garden read

CITY SPROUTS SOUTH COMMUNITY GARDEN In 2015 community activists gathered together to change the Dorothy Patach Environmental Area located at 19th and N Streets from a dumping site to a garden and community destination City Sprouts South seeks to provide a hub for community to grow together and support a healthy Omaha

DECATUR URBAN FARM City Sprouts Decatur Urban Farm is located on 40th and Decatur Streets Comprised of several formerly vacant lots the land now serves as the primary campus for our Urban Farming Internship where our Interns plant cultivate and harvest annual vegetables The land is also home to a fruit orchard a 1000 gallon rain barrel and rain garden a bee hive a hoop house and one acre that is used by immigrant families in the neighborhood

TRUCK FARM OMAHA Truck Farm Omaha TFO a program of City Sprouts is a traveling tactile edible farm in the bed of a 1975 Chevy pick up truck TFO teaches kids how fun farming and healthy food can be engages them in thinking about where food comes from and gets them excited about growing food themselves

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING LITTLE SPROUTS Little Sprouts is a free summer youth garden program hosted at City Sprouts and City Sprouts South From planting seeds to an end of season harvest party there is something for everyone GARDEN TO TABLE Garden to Table provides after school programming at Lewis and Clark Middle School and King Science Center Growing Gardeners Workshop Series The Growing Gardeners Workshop Series is a collaboration between City Sprouts and the Big Garden The mission of the series is to offer four seasons of hands on workshops that feature skills and techniques for every gardener and urban farmer All workshops are free or low cost

EDUCATION CENTER Donated to City Sprouts in 2005 the one hundred year old pink house on the corner of 40th and Seward Streets serves as our Education Center At the Center we share skills of organic gardening cooking and food preservation sustainability and healthy lifestyle choices with our Interns community members and gardeners MARKET STAND Each Saturday throughout the summer our Urban Farming Interns host an on site Market Stand For sale you will find farm fresh produce eggs flowers honey and preserved jams and jellies CHICKEN COOP Visited by passer bys school children and neighbors the Chicken Coop is a City Sprouts favorite We have multiple breeds of chickens who lay eggs of all colors from brown to green

MEET THE INTERNS Our greatest crop of the season is our wonderful team of Urban Farm Interns City Sprouts and City Sprouts South provided employment for sixteen individuals over the summer of 2017 Interns learned skills related to urban farming culinary arts financial literacy education nutrition and community and team building The interns reflect on what they have learned this season and their stories are on the following pages Denotes City Sprouts South Interns

Cindy Alcaraz Dubon Bryan High School 17 Cindy enjoyed being surrounded by intelligent and funny kids and teaching the importance of the community and gardening Madeline Gruttemeyer Papillion LaVista HS 20 Madeline enjoyed learning how to sheet mulch just kidding Her actual favorite thing was learning to get along with all different walks of life Hel Blut Say Northwest High School 17 University of Nebraska Omaha Hel loved learning through hands on work and hopes to use the skills he s learned to have his own little garden at home Amina Hassan Northwest High School 18 Amina s favorite thing was learning about how to be healthy and maintaining the chicken coop and feeding the chickens

Kweh Htoo Benson High School 18 Kweh wants to become a construction engineer so he enjoyed learning how to build the aquaponics system Jason Gonzalez Lara South High School 20 Jason enjoyed his summer at City Sprouts South learning to grow food and work with the team Htoo Kbaw Northwest High School 18 Htoo loved working at the Farm Stand meeting new people and learning marketing skills Ajok Mareng Mercy High School 20 Ajok s favorite thing this summer was playing with the chickens and eating peaches off the trees

Alendra McIntyre Central High School 20 Alendra loved the team that she worked with and learning the cool things you could make with the food they grew Jabin Moore North High School 17 University of Nebraska Omaha Jabin enjoyed learning about the chickens and bees and making jam Asya Nelson Metro Community College Asya loved interacting with community members and the variety of personalities she encountered She was proud of the practical financial training and life skills that she learned Corriah Owens Northwest High School 20 Corriah was very impressed with the pollinator garden at H O P E Garden that she saw during one of the field experiences

Shar Paw Northwest High School 19 Shar enjoyed building the aquaponics system and harvesting potatoes Pu Reh Simon Benson High School 17 University of Nebraska Omaha Pu enjoyed learning to mow the lawn picking apples pulling weeds and cooking with the food they grew Mijael Ramirez South High School 15 Mijael enjoyed teaching the little kids from Boys and Girls Club and the Learning Community about gardening Hser Tha Kue Benson High School 19 Hser Tha enjoyed working at the Farm Stand and interacting with customers She wants to have a garden and grow healthy food when she s older

AQUAPONICS AT CITY SPROUTS In addition to working at the Decatur Urban Farm the City Sprouts and City Sprouts South gardens our talented team of interns worked with Greg Fripp of Whispering Roots to install an aquaponics unit in the basement of our Education Center Aquaponics is a water based system that circulates water through growing medium to support plants and then through a tank to support fish The nutrients and waste from the fish nourish the plants and the plants filter the water for the fish

MEET THE STAFF As a team the staff at City Sprouts City Sprouts South and Truck Farm Omaha develop and implement a wide array of educational programming to support our mission of Sustaining Communities through Gardening Roxanne Williams Draper Executive Director Since 2012 Roxanne has served as the Director of City Sprouts During this time the staff has grown from two to six members the two community gardens and an urban farm are thriving 16 interns are learning about healthy lifestyles and hundreds of families are growing food Maranda Allbritten Truck Farm Educator Maranda has been teaching with Truck Farm Omaha since 2013 Maranda also works as an educator at the Joslyn Art Museum and loves maintaining her own garden She is also a talented book binder and illustrator Carrie Eidsness Administrative Assistant Carrie is a recent transplant from Seattle When she isn t at City Sprouts Carrie is heading to the mountains to hike or rock climb

Shannon Gennardo Community Engagement Coordinator An avid gardener Shannon supports our gardeners providing them with plants seeds tools and tips to have a bountiful garden She also serves as an educator for Garden to Table and Truck Farm Omaha John Huebscher Urban Farm Manager John has been working at City Sprouts since 2012 He is a retired OPS teacher and also works at Creighton University Athletics as an Academic Advisor He has a love for growing great tomatoes and sweet potatoes Rebecca Reagan Education and Outreach Manager Rebecca joined the team in March 2017 Rebecca oversees Little Sprouts youth summer program Truck Farm Omaha Growing Gardeners Workshop Series Garden to Table as well as tours and outreach programs Alex O Hanlon City Sprouts South Garden Manager Alex joined City Sprouts as its South Garden Manager in March 2017 Alex can also be found farming at Benson Bounty Farm when she s not working at City Sprouts South

For more information about Visit www omahasprouts org 402 504 1910 info omahasprouts org Special thanks to Matt Wettengel who provided many of the photographs in this program