The Home Gardening Project Foundation
how to give raised-bed vegetable gardens to people in need
Gallery of Gardens 1 3
Photos of gardens & gardeners
Articles about HGP
Smithsonian:
"The Gift of a Garden" 
Sun: "Giving Away Gardens"
Sun: "Payday"
How to Give Away Gardens
download free how-to booklet for starting a Home Gardening Project (PDF)
Building raised-bed gardens
See how we built 1400 gardens
Diagram and materials list
About us: our history and mission, and how to help give gardens to people
Urban gardening and the benefits of gardening: Links to other sites
"How to garden" links: books and sites about raised beds, composting, what and how to plant
Who needs vegetable gardens?
The elderly, and families with children, according to a 2003 report by the US Conference of Mayors.
The number of families with children requesting emergency food assistance increased in 88 percent of the survey cities...59 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance were either children or their parents.
The number of elderly persons requesting emergency food assistance increased in 73 percent of survey cities.
Gallery of Gardens, 2
Here is garden number 43: a front-yard vegetable garden for a single-parent mother. Flower starts are given to each recipient. What's a garden without flowers? (Here, they are nasturtiums.)
Mrs. Hamel, who passes out free vegetables to her neighbors. TEXT of Mrs. Hamel's letter:
Hi
I had a nice garden but don’t know if I can
do it next year my old legs don’t want to haul me up.
I will be 90 December 30th. I going to try it keeps me busy
and I think good for me. I hope every thing is O-K with you folks
Have nice Christmas an new Year.
Love,
Mrs. Hamel
Garden for grandparents taking care of grandchildren. The children have carved their names on their pumpkins.
Delighted 7-year-old girl with 19-foot tall sunflower. The sunflower stalk is being used as a trellis for beans, in the Hopi tradition.
Proud gardener ready to harvest corn.
Disabled woman with productive garden beds.
Bertha Pierce with her half-size garden occupying an old flower bed in front of her studio apartment.
Gallery 1 Gallery 3 Our mission and how to help Photos of garden building How gardens help people E-mail us
Read more about HGP: articles from Smithsonian | Sun Magazine | Vegetable gardening resources (links)
© 2005 The Home Gardening Project Foundation. Last updated October 2005.
New research from Washington State University confirms what many gardeners have thought all along: kids who are exposed to gardening and nature when young exhibit positive attitudes towards the environment and nature as adults.
Researchers conducted 2000 phone interviews with adults in large urban areas across the country.
The results indicate that both passive (growing up around natural elements such as trees and flowers) and active (picking flowers, planting trees) interactions with plants when young resulted in strong positive adult attitudes towards trees and nature. The highest correlation came with adults who actively gardened as kids. This suggests that gardening programs for kids who aren’t normally exposed to gardens and plants can foster a better appreciation of gardening and the environment when they’re adults.-- NGA news report..
Can only the rich afford to be thin? and eat healthy food?
Federal researchers are studying the relationship between lower incomes and higher percentages of being overweight, but some government statistics already show that link. People with low incomes are more likely to be overweight or obese (30 or more pounds overweight).
Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington-Seattle, who reviewed the latest research and published a review article on the subject in the January issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is not surprised.
"What's really cheap are foods made with refined flour, added sugar and corn syrup and added fat." People with limited income, he says, "buy foods that fill them up, and who's to blame them? They get the most calories for their money."
Indeed, calorie per calorie, chips are usually cheaper than fresh asparagus; bulk cookies are less expensive than raspberries. Sure, rice and beans are inexpensive, Drewnowski says. "But it's kind of patrician to say, 'The rich can eat a diet high in antioxidants with lots of vegetables and salmon, but for everyone else, rice and beans are good enough.' "
Beyond pricing, access also could be a problem for people who are not as well off. Numerous studies have found that grocery stores in lower-income areas offer far fewer healthful food options.
In some poor neighborhoods, people typically need to drive or take a bus for a half-hour or more to get to a major store; otherwise they need to rely on small grocery stores, convenience markets and "hybrid gas stations" where they choose from a smaller selection of food items at higher prices. The stores may have hot dogs, fried chicken, doughnuts, deli meats, frozen pizza, pork rinds, candy and some canned foods, but they don't have many — if any — fresh fruits and vegetables.
Most of the poor in America live in urban areas and have "crummy" grocery stores where they often pay more for poorer-quality food, an expert says. Still, cost may be the biggest hurdle for most people trying to win the battle of the bulge.
"There's a perception that people spend their food budget on processed foods such as cans of Spaghettios and boxes of macaroni and cheese because they are too lazy to eat healthy. But," says one woman interviewed, " I think people would eat a lot healthier if they could afford to purchase fresh foods." [Or, better yet, grow their own fresh vegetables at home!] USA Today article
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