Heart Beets Garden: 2018 Recap!
Did you know that Hamilton County is ranked 20th on the list of the healthiest counties in NE?
What would it look like to cultivate health in our county and rise up the rankings?
The Heart Beets Community Gardens, a new community wellness project, aims to be part of that solution.
An overview of our impact
In one hour a week this past summer, our 10 gardeners accomplished the following:
Completed 40% of the CDC recommended weekly amount of moderate-intensity physical activity (YES! Gardening counts)
Added some of the most nutritionally vibrant food available on our planet (Fresh veggies that have never been stored, transported, or processed)
Engaged in 5 of the 9 Blue Zone Pillars of Health (Move Naturally, Plant Slant, Down Shift, Right Tribe, Purpose)
We were also able to share half of our produce with 3 communities partners, through to following:
40 deliveries to the Hamilton County Food Pantry
Weekly deliveries to the Summer Food Program hosted by the Leadership Center
Fresh flower and salad topping deliveries to East Park Villa
Thank you to our sponsors and partners!
Many people in Hamilton County contributed toward getting this program off the ground for our inaugural season!
Foremost, we want to thank our founding partner, Memorial Community Health! We are so excited to be part of their work in promoting health in our entire county!
The members of The Aurora Garden Club worked tirelessly to execute the logistics of planning and working along side our gardeners.
The garden would not have been possible, without the generous support of our business community! Please thank these businesses next time you interact with them!
Aurora Fitness Center - Premiere Business Sponsor
Pinnacle Bank - Premiere Business Sponsor
Potential LLC - Premiere Business Sponsor
There were also 26 individuals who donated towards the garden.
2018 Heart Beets Photo Essay
Young gardeners from Nebraska Christian (pictured above) and Aurora Public Schools started seeds for us in their respective greenhouses.
After much research, we decided to start with a 50x40 plot. Pictured above are some of our 10 gardeners, helping to cut sod and construct a fence.
There was quite a bit of sweat involved, but we got the sod cut, our organic compost spread, and part of our fence constructed all in one afternoon!
Both The Grain Place and Harley Fassnacht volunteered their time and equipment to till the ground for us.
Gardeners and community members volunteered their time and expertise in fence construction and our initial seed planting.
The Hamilton County Extension office was able to utilize the garden as an outdoor classroom several times throughout the summer. Above are some 4-Hers helping with early season watering.
During one session hosted by the Extension office, 4Hers made adorable "Toad Abodes" to sit throughout the garden.
Before we knew it, we had beautiful veggies springing forth from the ground!
Every week during the summer we had two community work hours, where gardeners could work alongside each other.
We were extremely lucky to have several visits throughout the summer from Tom Thomas (2nd to the left), who has his PhD in Agriculture and worked for the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society. Truly one of the joys of the summer was learning from each other and gardening experts, like Tom.
Our partnership with East Park Villa is one that we look forward to growing over the years. This year we made vegetable and flower deliveries to the residents.
We made around 40 deliveries to the Hamilton County Food Pantry this summer! This season has been a great opporuunity to meet the volunteers and clients of the pantry.
We got a little damp at our end of season garden party, but it was all worth it for this picture with a double rainbow!
Would you like to be one of our 10 gardeners next year?
Please sign up for our mailing list to be notified when garden registration opens again in February 2019!
(The registration was filled in 3 hours last year, these spots are first come first-serve!)