Get to know the Noyo Food Forest

The Gardens Project has a rockin’ sister partner on the coast – the Noyo Food Forest (NFF), a group dedicated to growing the local food system in Fort Bragg. In the past 4 years, the NFF has created 5 innovative and unique community-based garden projects on the coast.

The NFF’s main project is The Learning Garden, a Farm-to-Cafeteria program at Fort Bragg High School where organic food is grown on-site by students, staff, and volunteers and served directly in the school cafeteria and snack program. Several exciting expansion projects are also in the works at The Learning Garden: this fall the NFF had a Rainwater Catchment Workshop where they installed a 3,000 gallon water tank to collect rain in the winter; they planted a 30-tree apple orchard with the help of Common Vision and 90 local students; there is a big ol’ strawberry patch in the works, and they eagerly await the arrival of another hoop house to grow more warm weather loving plants! Workdays are every Friday, 1-5. Everyone is welcome! To learn more or get involved, click here

Other gardens include: the Senior Kitchen Garden, growing fresh organic produce for the Redwood Coast Senior Center lunch program; the Head Start Preschool Family Garden, a hybrid school/community garden creating opportunities for students and their families to grow their own fresh produce, with workdays every Thursday from 1-3pm; the Noyo Come-Unity Garden, a traditional community garden where individuals and families rent plots to grow their own fresh produce; and rounding out the quintet is the Grey Whale Garden, which provides a haven for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators and provides a beautiful site to passers-by on HighWay 1!