2013-Evening Garden Harvesting at Urban Peak

Start Date-End Date: 10/15/2013-10/15/2013 Land Manager Office: Grow Local Colorado Land Manager Contact: Barbara Masoner Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: NOTE: Registration for this opportunity is full. If you register, you will be placed on the wait list. Spend a fall evening outdoors harvesting and winterizing a vegetable garden whose produce will provide food for those in need. Description: NOTE: Registration for this opportunity is full. If you register, you will be placed on the wait list. STEWARDSHIP SITE Urban Peak is an organization that helps homeless and at-risk youth overcome real life challenges by providing essential services and a safe community, empowering them to become self-sufficient adults. VOLUNTEER PROJECT - WHAT & WHY We return to Urban Peak in the fall having planted in the spring, to perform the final harvest before putting the garden to rest for the coming winter. This project is one of several where we will be wrapping up the gardening season for those Denver City Park vegetable gardens planted in the spring. The purpose of these projects is to demonstrate the beauty of edible gardens, engage community participation, and inspire Denver citizens to grow their own vegetable gardens. In addition, all produce will be donated to local organizations including local food banks, homeless shelters, and families in need. Volunteer work will be fun, easy, and child-friendly. Tasks will involve harvesting, weeding, and raking the soil a final time. PARTNERS Grow Local Colorado Urban Peak Latitude/Longitude: 39.68682, -104.988426 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 13 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 13 Total Volunteer Days: 26 Total Unique Volunteers: 26 Total Volunteer Hours: 65 Staff Hours: 6 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Grow Local, VOC, WOOFer, and The Table all talked about sustainable ag and stewardship while we ate burritos! Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Chilly - but the work went swiftly. We will expect to have more produce at this site next year. Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: On October 15th, 13 adults and 13 youth arrived at Urban Peak, a youth homeless shelter, to put 300 square feet of garden to rest. Being a pretty chilly evening, the volunteers worked swiftly to harvest carrots, potatoes, broccoli, and greens. They also uprooted all the beds, tilled, and fertilized the soil in preparation for next planting season. We had couple groups of volunteers in attendance such as Iron Horse Architects and the Colorado I Have A Dream Foundation. The garden beds these hard working volunteers put to rest, produced between 10-15lbs of food every week that went directly back into the youth shelter. When the work was finished, volunteers enjoyed warm burritos in their hands from Chipotle - an awesome sponsor and donor of these evening garden harvesting projects throughout Denver.