Grow It Green Morristown

Grow It Green develops local solutions to help build greener, healthier and more just communities celebrating the joy of fresh food at our sites: the urban farm, early street community garden, the greenhouse at st. elizabeth university and the morris winter farmers market. The activities at each location weave together to create a more equitable and sustainable food system. Focusing programs on the resources unique to the organization, we strengthened and created new programs in 2022. We returned to schools for lessons, science days and wellness fairs. Students were back on the farm for discovery-based learning with teachers utilizing the outdoor Green spaces as an enrichment for lessons as children figured out how to be back in school environments. With mental and physical health implications due to covid-19, outdoor spaces became celebrated spaces to rebuild physical health and address mental health needs. 2022 urban farm program service accomplishments:- 2,291 children engaged in in-person farm based education, science days during the school along with new kindergarten summer school program plus the return of tyke time with 9 new lessons and new summer teen bomba-inspired classes-779 in person volunteers helped serve the community and learn new skills while connecting with others including groups from morris county youth shelter, s.o.a.r and colonial l.i.f.e.- fresh food donations of 7,000 pounds for local food banks, for farm to table shares in newark in partnership with newark sas and through a voucher program for free produce selected at the farm - 110 weekly csa produce shares provided and picked up in person at the farm- 8,000 pounds of produce sold at our farm stand and the winter farmers market we manage- over 24,000 pounds of produce grown in a year of severe drought conditions when supplies and food prices skyrocketed making fresh food access even more challenging for families in local neighborhoods - 8 high school paid interns -continued farm apprentice program for underserved populations in agriculture career pathways and added a newark urban farmer training series at farm and greenhouse-multiple new sustainable farm practices implemented to address environmental impact of severe drought, reduce our carbon footprint, reduce water usage and find new innovative ways to increase production with new pollinator garden, use of shade cloths, silage tarps and new vertical growing system-alfresco community event welcoming over 435 community members reached nearly 100 households in census tract 435 surrounding farm plus 3 new cultural events were held at the farm showing the power of community Green spaces to connect, share stories and gather to heal and celebrate diversity-director of agriculture & education, farmer shaun ananko, awarded national garden club award for outstanding environmental education and recognized as a nj-11 local hero and honored by the town with a day of recognition for his dedication to the community while Grow It Green was recognized by the morris county hispanic chamber of commerce as the community advocate of the year

Greenhouse operations and winter farmers market- college interns from drew action scholars and dietitian students from st. elizabeth returned to the greenhouse for a full year of educational classes, internships and volunteer opportunities- started seedlings for the urban farm and for community members and gardeners encouraging planting of fresh food, flowers and herbs and operated a seedling and seed swap and share- expanded the winter market in a continued public/private partnering with township of morris - created space and opportunities for 48 farmers, ranchers and creators at the market to reach customers by continuing outreach to minority and woman owned vendors and nonprofits trying to connect with community members- provided a vibrant community space for intergenerational groups to connect and shop outdoors for over 750 attendees weekly helping to address social isolation and lack of physical activity during the winter

Early street community garden program service accomplishments:the garden and surrounding parklet was a vital respite with community garden beds and welcoming Green spaces while also serving as a model of sustainable public spaces encouraging pollinators and preventing storm water damage. To create a more welcoming experience for the public in this space, we pushed back the fences and increased the front parklet space with plans to create opportunities for the groups of students from neighboring schools and seniors and residents from neighboring low income housing to utilize this urban oasis to appreciate the health benefits of Green spaces and fresh food.-83 garden plots fully occupied with a lengthy waiting list heading into the 2023 season as people looked for ways to Grow food, flowers and herbs and build on demand for garden therapy- increased subsidized beds available for neighbors and other organizations looking for outdoor, therapeutic activities and to Grow food and self-sustaining skills welcoming parishioners from st. margaret's church, morris county hispanic american chamber of commerce, wind of the spirit, neighborhood house, and the high school transitional skills program, colonial l.i.f.e.- held in person social events for gardeners along with kid focused programs- piloted a new work study program with students of Morristown high school-built a new compost system with a static aeration composter to increase usage of plant materials to create our own compost for gardeners and demonstrate composting for visiting students and groups-installed a third rain garden to minimize the impact of storm water runoff from neighboring paved surfaces, filtering toxins for years to come and keeping them from entering local waterways