More on our involvement with Mendocino County's kids and school gardens

For everyone who expressed an interest in the school gardens, here is some more information for you.

GENE, the garden-based nutrition education program, serves 32 schools from preschool to 12th grade in Mendocino County. The Gardens Project of North Coast Opportunities' Community Action Agency is proud to work with these school gardens, and together we reach more than 8,000 students and 1,000 families through gardening and nutrition events each year. This year federal funding for the program ended, putting these gardens at risk of closing.

The U.S. has an obesity epidemic, and we believe educating children about where their food comes from is more important now than ever. We hope to raise enough money to hire a garden coordinator for each school in order to keep the gardens alive and the students growing their own food.

Help fight childhood obesity and keep the gardens alive.

Creating Access to Local, Organic Food 

The Gardens Project is the coordinating agency for The Gardens Network, and facilitates the development of community-supported gardens throughout Mendocino County. 

Additionally, we support various projects including After School Nutrition Programs, Farm-to-Cafeteria, Food Stamp Outreach, and our Food Policy Council. The Gardens Project relieves hunger and inadequate nutrition in low-income neighborhoods, senior communities, schools, and youth enterprise projects by providing: 

• Education: We teach methods for growing organic food, as well as its nutritional, social, and economic benefits. We also offer leadership training for garden members and organizers.
• Nutrition/Physical Health. We do our best to bring a nutritious food supply to individuals, children, and families in a physically engaging, community-supported environment.
• Economic Development. We work to provide people with life-long, transferable, and self-sustaining skills in food production, cooking, surplus food sales, and reducing household food costs

Farm to Table Harvest Feast: Support School Gardens!

We are delighted to bring the Farm to Table Dinner experience to our inland community this fall, to help keep school gardens open throughout the county.

Eat Mendocino Presents a Farm to Table Harvest Feast

Hosted at Black Oak Coffee Roasters (476 N. State Street, Ukiah)

Saturday November 9th, 2013

Join us for a 100% Mendocino-grown harvest dinner paired with local wine and coffee

6:00 pm: Open wine bar & behind-the-scenes tour of the roasting room

6:30 pm: Dinner begins

This is a benefit to help save Mendocino County’s School Gardens. We will be raising funds for the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE) program, to support a healthy, fresh food future for the children in our community.

Tickets will be available at Black Oak Coffee Roasters and Westside Renaissance Market in Ukiah. Or email eatmendocino@gmail.com to RSVP.

$50 advance/$55 at the door

Contact Sarah for more info (707) 593-6135

Mendocino County school gardens need your help!

On October 1, Mendocino County’s 32 public school gardens - operated by the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE) program - lost funding.

There are so many proven benefits of garden-based education, and if a significant community interest in school gardens and nutrition education is demonstrated to each school board, GENE has a very real chance of thriving once again.

Until then, most students will miss out, and unattended gardens run the risk of being plowed over. The cost to fully fund the GENE program is about $25 per student per year, or $500 per classroom. We hope that in the years to come the schools will prioritize funding for the program, but for this year we need community donations to keep the gardens alive.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Watch this video, share it with your friends, and post it on any social media sites you use.
2. Make a donation to your favorite school garden through the Community Foundation.
3. Urge your school board to fully fund the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education program.
4. Volunteer in your local school garden: e-mail Terry D’Selkie at tdselkie@uusd.net.

Mendocino County Educators Reach-Out to Keep School Gardens Growing

Twenty Mendocino County educators dug in and shared a nutritious meal in celebration of Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education in October. Let's ensure that healthy gardens and children grow in Mendo'!



Food Systems Project Assistant April Cunningham of the Gardens Project led a G.E.N.E. Workshop at Nokomis Elementary School Saturday October 5, 2013. The G.E.N.E. Workshop served as an opportunity for educators in Mendocino County to strengthen their network, share and acquire resources, and fortify their ability to utilize garden space as an additional classroom.

The G.E.N.E. Workshop served 20 Mendo' County educators from in-school and after-school programs; ranging from Willits Charter to Pomolita Middle School. In collaboration with Master Gardeners Gloria Jarrell and Karen House, Food Corps Service Member Keegan Niland, HealthCorps Service Member Steph Logsdon, Teacher Pam Chiriboga, and G.E.N.E. Coordinator Terry d’Selkie; April demonstrated activities like “Eat a Rainbow” where the importance of eating fruits and vegetables rich in a variety of colors is highlighted; and, “Food Safety in the Garden” where educators learn the importance of preparing foods from the garden safely while recycling water.


The Mendocino County teachers were happy to be a kid for the day while demonstrating garden and nutrition education activities. Keegan led a Life Lab activity called “Six of One Thing, Half Dozen of the Other” where participants classified objects in the garden and talked about them as a group. The activity was a great way to explore how the new common core curriculum set to launch next school year can be incorporated into garden education. Steph led a workshop showing how toilet paper rolls, newspaper, and good potting soil is enough to germinate seeds and grow starts. Steph’s workshop opened up avenues and explored how starting a garden is accessible and cost-effective. April led a cooking workshop to instruct on proper knife technique and facilitating minimal-heat/no-heat recipes for kids. Mendo' County teachers were excited to create their own salad dressing and try bulgur wheat for the first time!

Educators left the G.E.N.E. Training feeling supported by their peers and community. In addition to the information and technical components, Terry d’Selkie helped source a gardening kit with basic tools; and seeds from Bountiful Gardens. It’s an incredible experience to meet and collaborate with folks in the community that choose to teach and empower young people to grow, eat, and celebrate healthy foods.