A Letter From the San Francisco Garden
Hello Gardeners and Good Food Enthusiasts!
As Sarah has mentioned, we have launched a very exciting Pen Pal Program between Food Network employees and the staff and children of our Good Food Gardens! I've been lucky enough to correspond with our premiere garden run by The Boys & Girls Club in San Francisco. We swap photos of growing veggies, stories of the weather, and well wishes for a fruitful harvest. What a wonderful way to get to know people on the othe side of the country! In fact, I've even planned a trip to San Fran this fall and will be stopping by the garden to get my hands dirty and dig in.
Here is my most recent letter from Colleen Maltby of The Boys & Girls Club. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I have!
Happy Eating!
Kendra
Hi Kendra!
Thanks for the card! I'm sending some pictures of our garden. Things are coming along nicely! I think we will have to tie up the sunflowers before too long. Our beans are coming along nicely, too, and should be ready for picking at the end of the summer. Just in time for your visit! The carrots were a bit of a surprise. I forgot we had planted them, but they are doing well. As long as we keep everything watered it should be fine. I hope your stuff is growing well too!
Sincerely,
Colleen!
Edible Exhibit
The first time I visited the New York Botanical Gardens, I thought I'd died and gone to gardener heaven, which is why I urge you to visit our newest Good Food Gardens that is a part of their Edible Gardens Exhibit. The exhibit launches next Saturday, June 27, and runs until September 13, giving you ample opportunities to experience everything from Tropical Fruit, Roots & Shoots to the dozen of heirloom vegetables in our Good Food Garden in full bloom. In the meantime, check back soon for news about the event, and more letters from our Good Food Garden Ambassadors!
Edible Education
Have Kids? Teach Kids? Love Kids? We do (love kids), which is why we are so dedicated to edible education, the only sustainable way to inspire kids to eat fresh, wholesome foods. Edible Education is the inspiration behind the Good Food Gardens, and this documentary by After Ed TV [of Teacher’s College at Columbia University], which gives you a window into the magic that happens when you get kids in the garden. Dig in!
Live, From West Palm Beach
Recently, we launched a Good Food Gardens Pen Pal Program to keep in touch with our Good Food Gardeners out in the field, and we're so thrilled to share our first letter with you. It comes from the enterprising Rise & Shine Teens of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, who are not only growing their own Good Food, but feeding families in the process. We applaud you Rise & Shine Teens! Thanks for inspiring us and gardeners all across the country! Here is their letter:
Hi from the Rise & Shine Teens,
We had the Grand Opening of our Rise & Shine Family Food Co-op on May 30th and featured our Good Food Garden. The day was amazing! We began the day with live television coverage while we worked to get everything ready. We had planned for two early morning interviews to be in our Good Food Garden, but we had a rain shower that kept us inside. The rain cleared up, and we were able to make it into the garden and did a later in the day. That interview was seen on two stations Saturday night and two stations Sunday morning.
We distributed food to over 70 families that day. People could not believe the excellent value and the fresh and delicious food we provided. We know our numbers will continue to grow once more people in our community learn about us. The press exposure we received at the Grand Opening has helped us. People have been calling almost every day since the event.
We had an iron chef cook-off during the Grand Opening. Three Club families participated. Each family was paired with a famous chef. The chefs were awesome! They really helped the families with their dishes. Each family had to pick their secret ingredient from the Good Food Garden. That was really fun to see what vegetable or herb they would choose.
The dishes the families prepared sure looked delicious. Each family presented their dish to the judges and explained what they had prepared and what their secret ingredient was. The judges, including the Mayor, loved the dishes so much they didn’t want to give their plates away. It was a difficult choice, but the Butler family won.
Everyone had a blast and we can’t wait to tell you more.
Your Friends,
The Rise & Shine Teens from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County
Watch Our Gardens Grow
You've waited so patiently to experience the Good Food Gardens for yourself, and now you can, live on a web series chronicling the launch of our first Good Food Gardens in New York City. Come see for yourself how a garden, and a little rain and sunshine, can transform a child's relationship with food. Many thanks to our dedicated friends at the Dunlevy Milbank Center in Harlem, part of the Children's Aid Society, for taking this journey with us and becoming our next Good Food Ambassadors. Join us here for the next five episodes to watch our garden grow!