GARDEN UPDATE
Slow Food Roaring Fork Garden Update January 2008:
As of January 2008 Slow Food Roaring Fork has 2 ongoing garden projects:
Our first garden is at Aspen Community Garden by the Marolt Barn in Aspen. This garden is a 10' x 20' plot that has been active for 4 years. It has been planted with vegetables and herbs for the use by children from the local elementary and preschools, as well as The Aspen Center for Enviornmental Studies as well as The Buddy Program. Children would walk the one mile to come help plant seeds and seedlings, work in the gardens, harvest and eat out of this garden all summer long. They washed, cut and used the produce in soups, pickles, salads and just plain nibbled.
The second and newest garden is located at the Aspen Elementary School campus. It is 70' x 25'. There are 6 beds, each 16' x 3'. This garden is designed to focus on foods that can be harvested in the spring and fall when the children are at the school. It is the hope that these crops could supplement the lunch room program at the school. The vegetables that will be planted this coming spring are spinach, mixed greens, potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, beans, squash, strawberries and asparagus.
This school is going through a changeover in philosophy of the lunchroom. The Aspen School Lunch Initiative is active in coordinating a "whole systems" approach by incorporating the produce from the garden and outdoor classroom with organic lunchroom offerings, and following through with composting the kitchen waste via an "Earth Tub" and returning the compost to the garden. The children will actively be participating in the garden while meeting their standards in areas of math, science and literature. We look forward to bringing this all to fruition in coming years.
Thank you foryour support.
Katie Leonaitis, Slow Food Roaring Fork
923-4383
