Where You’ll Be:
Observatory Park is a small yet spacious park near the University of Denver (DU) campus. Home to DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory, the park also boasts century-old trees, an extensive playground area, and vast open fields perfect for picnicking or a pickup game of frisbee.
What You’ll Do:
Through our long-standing partnership with Grow Local Colorado, volunteers ages 8+ will spend the evening harvesting a vegetable garden and preparing it for winter at Observatory Park. Tasks will include gathering ripe produce, weeding, and clearing plant debris to help maintain the garden for the next growing season.
Participants may have the opportunity to take home extra seeds (while supplies last) and even hand-deliver fresh produce to local food banks and community aid organizations, ensuring these nutritious harvests reach those in need.
Why It Matters:
The produce that VOC volunteers planted in the spring is now mature and ready to be donated to local organizations including food banks, homeless shelters, and families in need. By growing food locally, we reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the distance food must travel, minimizing water use, decreasing soil erosion, and helping develop a sustainable community.
Eligibility Requirements:
Ages 8+
Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older.
Project Difficulty:
This project is considered easy, please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.
Physical Considerations: Specific tasks include bending down/kneeling to harvest and using loppers or pruning shears to cut plant debris.
Access Factors:
Vehicle Access: Public street parking is available within a 5-10 minute walk to the project site. This project is accessible via RTD public transit or bike!
Please park on the west side of the park, along S Fillmore St. The garden plot (and where we will meet for the project) will be in the northwestern corner of Observatory Park.
