In March, the Big Garden hired Cait Caughey to fill the newly-created position of garden programming coordinator.

Cait says, "As garden programming coordinator for the Big Garden, I am most excited about having a really good garden curriculum in place that's both fun and activity-based, really connecting children, youth, and adults to their gardens. I want the gardeners to feel like they have the skills they need to produce their own food. I am especially interested in garden skills such as cooking, canning, maintaining soil health, and permaculture projects. We are incorporating a lot of new skills into our curriculum and I look forward to seeing our gardeners gain a strong foundation in these areas."

The Big Garden is excited to collaborate with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts on the Flock House project. Designed by artist Mary Mattingly, Flock Houses are small, mobile living systems meant to be inhabited by artists. The idea, part fantasy and part practicality, is to promote and implement a wider adaptation of "green" technologies such as rainwater capture, inner city agriculture, solar energy technologies, and scalable, transportable living spaces.

In early June, the Big Garden installed 3 raised garden beds and a rain barrel adjacent to the Flock House at the Bemis, between Jones & Leavenworth, 11th & 12th Streets in Omaha. We are very excited to be a part of this project!

 

For the first time since the Big Garden began in 2005, we now have large maps pin-pointing all of the gardens that we have helped to start. One map details the roughly 40 Big Garden sites in the Omaha-metro area. The other map shows all gardens outside of the Omaha-metro area, as we have broadened our programming to include out-state Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa.

These maps are an impressive way to see all the exciting progress that the Big Garden has accomplished to increase food security in our area.

The maps are currently on display inside United Methodist Ministries' office at 2665 Farnam Street in Omaha. You will also encounter them at off-sites and other special events.

The OnePulse cross-country bike trip kicked off June 12th in San Francisco, raising money along the way for five great organizations including the American Community Gardening Association. Bicycling from Omaha to Chicago, ACGA sponsored rider Brien Darby will be spreading the word about community gardening (and trying to stay cool!). We're especially excited that the OnePulse crew will spend a day working in The Big Garden during their cross-country trek. We look forward to welcoming them!

by Cait Caughey

 CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY