Kendall Whittier, Inc G.R.O.W. garden (Gardening to Reach Out and Welcome)—a KWI Learning Garden Project

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Purpose of the Garden

The proposed garden will be a learning garden concept, with the possibility of growing into a community garden in the coming years. It will be located on 6th Street, on a large plot of land leased by St. Antony’s Church to Kendall Whittier, Inc. The garden will be moderate in size at first, with several small plots large enough to accommodate the growing of a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. As the garden continues to grow in size and in manpower, new types of plants will be added and larger volumes of vegetables will be produced. The garden project will be coordinated by the YMP Fitness & Nutrition instructor and cared for year-round. In addition to youth in the YMP, other groups of students from the neighborhood and around Tulsa will be invited to take part in the gardening experience.

The garden will serve three main purposes:

The garden will help expose children to nutritious and healthy food choices that they may not have known about otherwise, and they will get to taste fresh fruits and vegetables that have been grown without pesticides or genetic alterations. In addition, the kids who are involved will also gain experience with planting and growing vegetables so that one day they could grow a garden of their own. Each child will have the chance to be actively involved in decisions and in gaining knowledge about different issues going on in the garden. They will learn to make decisions as a team, use teamwork, and take responsibility for the success of the project. Finally, the garden will serve as a connecting place for families where they can interact and share time together in a fun and relaxed environment.

As far as the actual produce, it will be used first for educational opportunities for the children participating in the garden project. Such opportunities may include cooking classes, recipe projects, family meals, and food sales. When production increases, participating families will be able to take home the additional fresh, homegrown food to use for their families’ meals.

Education and production will be an important part of the garden, but the space will also be used as a beautification project for the area. Along with plants, there will be benches, signage, fencing, water features, and maintenance in the garden. These will serve to make the environment more relaxing and enjoyable for the families, volunteers, and visitors to the garden.

For more information email: info at tulsacga dot org.