Project name: Stable Days Youth Ranch – Share Garden
County: Grand Forks, ND; Polk County, MN
Project Coordinator: Caryl Lester
Lead Organization: Stable Days Youth Ranch
Address: 1815 Brenna Ave NE
Grand Forks, ND 58203
Telephone: 701-330-9952Email:
- Briefly describe your garden project including its major goals. Please include a description of activities and the location of the garden (for example, Jefferson Elementary School). (150 words or less)
SDYR is an agriculturally-based youth mentoring program for kids ages 5–17 that includes a large community garden, we call the Share Garden. In 2016, we donated over 5000 pounds of fresh produce from our Share Garden to Grand Forks community food cupboards!
Our goals for the project:
To inspire and teach simple gardening procedures to support home gardening while growing produce to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables and improve overall wellness to our targeted low-income population.
Kids in our mentoring program spend 30 minutes each week in the garden actively planning, planting, growing, caring for and harvesting vast varieties of produce.
- How will your project make a difference to itschildren? (150 words or less)
Our garden program functions as a platform for reducing stress, facilitating moments of reflection and jump starting conversations relating to healthy choices. Compassion, generosity and HARD work are expressed in a tangible way as those who participate are allowed the opportunity to consider those less fortunate and take action.
The Share Garden serves as a tasting and accepting ground for kids in their relationship with vegetables. Each year we have vegetable-phobic kids overcoming their fear and sitting in our garden, eating what their hands helped produce. Combining the confidence of knowledge, peer support, hands-on experiences and even humor our ranch kids have grown to love their veggies.
In the garden emphasis is placed on living the most active lifestyle possible for your personal circumstances. We teach the joys of playing hard, working hard, eating well, and being nice.
North Dakota residents comprise 97% of our participants.
- How will your project make a difference in your community? (150 words or less)
By facilitating volunteer opportunities, teaching gardening, donating produce and hosting free nutrition and wellness classes we are raising awareness of the current state of food insecurity in our community while increasing access to locally grown fresh produce.
Learning to grow produce in a variety of ways and spaces will allow one to directly impact their personal access to produce. Up to 10 of our low-income volunteers will have free access to the seeds, soil, and support needed to develop their own family garden. All ten families will be expected to participate in the “Grow a Row” program which promotes growing one extra row of each of the varieties you are already planting for the purpose of donating to others in need.
- Please estimate the number of participants directly involved in the project:
Young children (3–12 years old): 240
Teens (13–17 years old): 150
Adults: 1000+
- Briefly list any partners (such as 4-H, FFA, school, church, garden center, parks department) that are involved.Briefly describe their roles in the project.Be very brief.
NDSU Extension Service, Grand Forks Co.: Provides nutrition education, evaluations and impact statements.
Northeast Human Service Centers, Altru Health System, Grand Forks Public Schools: Refer students.
Grand Forks Public Health: Assists with distribution of fresh produce, storage needs and food waste reduction.
Coalition for a Healthy Greater Grand Forks: Assists with education on chronic disease prevention through increased consumption of produce.
United Way: Funding partner.
Town Square Farmer’s Market: Provides educational materials and resources to promote the increased consumption of locally grown, fresh foods.
Grand Forks Park District: Marketing support.
- Budget
Expenditures Amount
Soil $300
Nutrients/fertilizers 200
Net pots 100
Grodan starter plugs 265
Trellis 135
TOTAL $1,000
For projects coordinated by organizationsoutside of NDSU Extension
Please describe your Extension office’s involvement in this garden program (recruiting youth, teaching, coordinating volunteers, providing meeting space). (150 words or less)
NSDU will be
- providing nutrition education for the kids involved,
- developing evaluations and
- writing an Impact Statement when the project is complete.
Molly J. Soeby 2/22/2017
Name of NDSU Extension Service staff Date