Getting Off The Ground...and Into The Soil
What do soccer and fresh vegetables have in common? A lot more than you think.
The Flock Food Project, established by the Mingo Ladies supporters’ group, is a project aimed towards helping provide access to fresh produce to families who have limited access to healthy eating options. Whether because of a ‘food desert’ - a term used to describe an urban area with little or no local grocery stores - or due to lack of resources to obtain nutrient dense food, the aim of the project is to encourage healthy eating by providing a cornerstone of healthy eating - fresh, locally grown produce.
The Mingo Ladies have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to get this project up and running, but the fruits of our labor are starting become apparent - as of the beginning of May, we have already begun planting at our community garden plot at Troy Gardens, and have made contact with our members to begin establishing gardens in their homes!
A Whole Team Effort
The Community Garden plot is not only the place to be for our volunteers, but it’s also welcomed some special guests! On Sunday, April 18th, Forward Madison FC Coach Carl Craig ran through drills of a different kind with some members of the team. Connor “Turbo” Tobin, Eric Leonard, Gustavo Fernandes, Noah Fuson, and Heath Martin came out to show how excited they are to support the community in this endeavor. They certainly got their workout in for the day by helping to complete assembly on a raised garden bed that is a wheel-chair accessible height, filling it with fertilizer and even helping a neighbor gardener with some tilling!
A Garden For The Community, By The Community
Planning a garden is no small task. As our project was taking off, one question we had was what should we plant in our community garden? As we started to make contact with our partner, Capital East Soccer Club - whose families we’d be providing these resources to - we decided to make sure that the fresh produce we supplied would not go to waste. We sent out a survey and used the responses from the families to cultivate our garden plan, asking them specifically what types of fresh produce they enjoy using in their homes and what options we could help supplement for them. Based on the feedback provided, we’ve started our Spring season by planting:
Kale
Collards
Arugula
Lettuce
Scallions
Summer Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Cauliflower
Snow Peas
Baby Bok Choy
Sugar Snap Peas
White and Red Onions
Spinach
Leaf Lettuce
Cilantro
Carrots
Radishes
Chives
Our top priorities at Troy have been to create a layout that offers best-possible ease of access, as well as a continual harvest throughout the season. Succession and companion planting strategies will support our goal of a continual harvest. An expanded entryway, two tabletop raised beds, and our large boat of a raised bed at the front of the plot will help with accessibility.
We’ve had a dry start to the spring with very little rain, but the mild temperatures have been great for early season seed germination! We can’t wait to get even more plants in the ground throughout the month of May.
We’re ‘virtually’ ready to go!
In an effort to help bolster donations for our Spring Donation Drive, two of our committee leads hosted an online chat-and-game session. Aisha and Elizabeth played the popular farming-simulator game Stardew Valley and broadcast it via the Flock’s Twitch page. They answered questions about the Flock Food Project, engaged the gaming community and helped raise over $200 for the Spring Donation Drive! Due to the popularity of their live-stream, they plan to return to the Flock Food Project’s ‘virtual garden’ in the future, possibly with some special guests.
Continue to follow our blog for more updates on our project!